


the luckiest loser.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: a dyad in the force (aka all my ben/rey fics) [9]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bowling alley, F/M, Families of Choice, Family Reunions, Implied/Referenced Sex, Inheritance, Kissing, Novel, San Francisco, Voice Acting, Wordcount: 30.000-50.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-01-15 03:58:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 47,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18490870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: Finn pulled the car into the nearly empty parking lot, and Rey let her eyes wander across the big, brick building.  It looked like it had been built a century or two ago, but for the gigantic neon sign above the entrance, proclaiming the building to be Resistance Lanes.  A smaller sign hung just to the left of the entrance, indicating Finn's law office was located inside and to the left.  She heard Finn getting out of the car and so she did the same, and then she leaned up against the door and continued to stare at the building.  "So this is it, huh?"or:  Rey gets the inheritance of a lifetime from a distant relative, a billionaire developer wants to bulldoze it to build skyscrapers, there's an arrogant lawyer involved, and Rey meets a voice actor named Ben who changes her perspective on things.(originally posted as broken halos.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so I originally had this up and I never finished it. I hate leaving unfinished stories up so I took it down, but I do like this story a lot and so I've decided to actually finish it this time. Of course, I've decided to do this while I'm writing seven other things at the moment because I love making things incredibly stressful and frustrating for myself, but it's been awhile since I've written anything Star Wars and that The Rise of Skywalker trailer (it was soooooo good) did all sorts of things to my brain, so this is happening again. 
> 
> Um, does anyone remember the TV show Ed? It was on NBC in the early 2000s and starred Tom Kavanaugh and Julie Bowen. I don't really remember all that much about it beyond the fact that I really enjoyed it and the fact that Tom Kavanaugh's character had a law practice inside a bowling alley that he owned. That is the inspiration behind Finn's law practice being inside a bowling alley. Also, the rest of the description of the bowling alley comes from the bowling alley here in the town I live in, and I swear to you, there really is a spray tanning booth in a closet next to the one where they keep all the janitorial supplies. 
> 
> Anyway, I don't know if anyone will remember it, I don't know if anyone will like it, but I do so that's really all that matters, right? Right. I'll keep trying to remember that. However, if you like it, I'd really appreciate a comment or a kudos letting me know that I'm not just writing into a void.

_Hello! It's your phone talking! And I am letting you know that I am ringing! So answer me already!_

"I have got to change that stupid ringtone." Rey pulled the pillow off of her head and blinked a few times until her eyes focused on the mobile phone sitting on her bedside table. She stuffed the pillow underneath her head as she reached for it, sighing heavily when she saw who was calling. She flipped onto her back and took a deep breath then pressed the button to answer the call. "Finn, I'm not in the mood to get yelled at."

"Good, because I wasn't calling to yell at you," came the cheery response. "I have to talk to you about something important."

Rey let her eyes drift closed and made a noise of acknowledgment. "If this is some sort of a plan on how to win him back, can I stop you before you begin? He's not coming back."

"I bet you've been in that bed doing nothing but sleeping ever since he left," Finn said seriously. "Which is all the more reason you need to come to San Francisco."

"I barely have money to pay my rent this month, Finn. I'm not coming to San Francisco."

"Well, it's good that you're not paying for it then, isn't it? Because you have to come," Finn demanded. "Do you remember your great uncle Jaxon?"

"No."

"Your grandfather's brother?" Finn tried again. "The one that lived in San Francisco with his wife Cally and a bunch of cats instead of kids. They came to visit you once while I still lived at home."

Rey searched her mind and recalled a fuzzy memory of the elderly man and his diminutive wife. "Kinda rings a bell. Why?"

"He's dead."

Rey couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. "Way to break the news gently, Finn."

"Oh shut up. I did that with your father, who you should totally call because he was quite distraught at the news."

"I'm not exactly speaking to them at the moment," Rey yawned. "How do you even know this?"

"Because Jaxon hired me about six months ago to put together his will and to help him settle out Cally's estate. She died several months ago."

Rey shook her head lightly. "All the lawyers in San Francisco and my great uncle finds you? What a coincidence."

"Your father referred him to me," Finn sighed. "Anyway, the important thing here is that Jaxon left everything to you."

Rey sat straight up and nearly dropped the phone. "Excuse me?"

"Jaxon left everything to you. Only you, no one else in the family, and trust me, your father was not happy about that. Jaxon told me that you were the one member of the family he thought showed real potential, and so you were the one he wanted to give everything to."

Rey laughed for real that time. "I showed real potential? Oh, I'm sure my parents are loving this. The big disappointment of the family, their hopeless, unemployed, unmotivated daughter gets some sort of inheritance for showing potential. Was Jaxon delusional or something?"

"Jaxon valued things in people that the rest of your family did not," Finn said carefully. "He told me that was the reason he and Cally left for San Francisco in the first place. He believed in you, Rey."

"He didn't even know me."

"He heard enough from your parents to know you were the right person for this," Finn admonished. "And I happen to agree with him."

Rey took a deep breath and laid back down on the bed. "So, what am I getting then?"

"A house full of possessions in San Francisco – but don't worry, there are no more cats, he gave them all to a shelter before he died – two cars, several bank accounts with varying amounts of money in them, and Jaxon's pride and joy, Resistance Lanes."

"What the fuck is Resistance Lanes?"

"A bowling alley," Finn answered. "Well, it's more than just a bowling alley, really. It's got a full-fledged snack bar and pizza shop, and the Rebellion Club, which is a bar that turns into a bit of a wild place at night. It's next door to a pharmacy and a laundromat, there's a mall in the area, and it's not in the most pristine condition, but Jaxon was adamant that you were the right person to inherit it."

Rey was silent for a moment, then sighed heavily. "So you're telling me that a man I met once in my life ages ago and who knew nothing more about me than whatever tales of disappointment my parents fed him through phone calls decided that I was the right person to inherit a _bowling alley_ in San Francisco."

"Yes."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"It's really a charming place, Rey. It just needs a little bit of modernization."

"You sound like you've spent a lot of time there."

Finn coughed into the phone. "Remember when I told you I found some cheap space to start my practice in? Well, it happens to be in the bowling alley."

"Your law practice is in the bowling alley?"

"It was Jaxon's idea, and he gave me a deal I couldn't turn down."

"This is getting more bizarre by the second," Rey murmured. "I now own a bowling alley in San Francisco that has your law practice inside it."

"Yes," Finn replied, and Rey could hear the smile in his face. "And when you get out here, that means we'll get to see a lot more of each other than we do on my infrequent trips back to Nebraska."

"I'm not going to San Francisco, Finn."

"Rey, you can't run a bowling alley in San Francisco from Nebraska."

"I don't want to run a bowling alley in San Francisco from anywhere."

Finn sighed heavily. "Rey, listen to me. You need to change something. Your life in Nebraska is going nowhere fast. This is an opportunity to start over. Forget about the past jobs, forget about the disappointment you think you are, forget about the latest asshole, and come to California and start fresh. The place practically runs itself. You've got a house to live in, cars to drive, and income. That's more than you've got now."

"Finn," Rey started, pausing for a moment before sighing heavily. "I'm not sure I know who I am anymore."

"Then this is a perfect time to change scenery and find out. I've already bought your plane ticket." Finn waited for Rey to say something, then continued when she didn't. "Look, at the very least, you need to come out here to settle the estate paperwork and stuff. You can give it a chance, and if you don't want to stay, then I'll get you hooked up with a real estate agent, you can sell everything, and at least go back to Nebraska with a hell of a lot of money in your pocket. But I think Jaxon would be very disappointed in you should that happen."

"And I'm supposed to care what some dead distance relative of mine would think."

"You've got to care about something, Rey," Finn sighed. "Come on. Give it a chance."

"If I say I will, will you let me go back to sleep?"

"Yes."

"Then fine. Email me about the flight and I'll deal with it in the morning."

"Fantastic. I'll see you in a few days."

"Whatever." Rey hung up the phone and tossed it to the side, pulling the pillow back over her head. She wanted to forget about the whole world and just sleep.

But she found that she couldn't just fall back asleep, this whole absurd inheritance thing hanging on her mind, and she eventually climbed out of bed and made her way over to her laptop, where she pulled up the email and found the one from Finn with her flight information.

_Your flight leaves Thursday morning, so don't you dare be late. I'll meet you at the airport provided my court date is on time that morning, and if not, my assistant will be there instead. You can stay with me if you want, but remember you've got a house here that you could stay in, and that is definitely bigger than my apartment. Pack enough stuff to stay here for a while – I don't know how long it's going to take to settle the estate, and it can take a while in the California court system._

_And try to come with an open mind, please. You never know what you might find here. Personally, I hope that it's happiness because that is something that has been sorely missing from your life for a very, very long time. And happiness looks good on you, or at least it did the last time I saw you happy. I think you were thirteen then._

_Much love,_  
_Finn_

Maybe Finn was right. Maybe this was exactly what she needed. Maybe she would find some sort of happiness there, some sort of peace and a level of sanity that she knew she was never going to find in Nebraska. And if she didn't, well, all it would really cost her would be a plane ticket home.

Sighing heavily, she pushed herself out of her chair and headed towards her closet, thinking that she might as well pack for the trip if she couldn't sleep.

*****

Rey stepped out of the terminal and looked around, yelping when someone suddenly crashed into her right side and enveloped her in a hug. "Hello, Finn."

"Rey!" Finn squeezed her tighter before letting go and standing back to get a good look at her. "You look like shit."

"Thanks," Rey said, reaching up to slide her sunglasses down to cover her eyes. "Can you stop staring at me?"

Finn sighed heavily and took Rey by the hand, pulling her across the drop off lanes and towards where he had parked. "I'm going to pretend that you're just being a jerk because you're jet-lagged and continue on as though everything was fine. Where would you like to go first?"

Rey stayed silent until Finn pulled her up to a bright red convertible and opened up the trunk. "You would have a car like this," she said, letting Finn lift her suitcases into the trunk. "And I'm not a jerk, nor do I care where we go."

"In that case, I'm going back to the office and you can look around your new business," Finn said, climbing into the driver's seat. "I think you'll find that you'll enjoy it."

"My parents think this is some sort of joke," Rey said, getting into the passenger's side of the car. "They think it's hilarious. My mother thinks I should marry you, by the way."

"Well, your mother is going to be bitterly disappointed then, isn't she?" Finn said, glancing over at her. "Maybe you'll meet someone out here."

"Unlikely."

"It'll be unlikely if you're not open to it. But if you want to play it more casual," Finn said. "You're in San Francisco now, Rey, and there are plenty, and I mean plenty, of single men here for you to enjoy."

Rey tried to fight off a smile. "I know. And I've always been more of a relationship kind of girl."

"You will be in one again someday. But first, you just need to have some fun as I did."

Rey looked over at him. "Did? Past tense?"

Finn took a deep breath. "My girlfriend Rose can't wait to meet you. Apparently, I talk about you a lot."

"Girlfriend?"

"Hey, I was going to tell you but you know how my parents are and I didn't want you to say something," Finn said, clenching the steering wheel a little tighter. "I can't even begin to broach the subject with them until they meet her, and they haven't met her yet. They'd flip out if they knew how committed we are to each other."

Rey reached over and put her left hand over Finn's right on the steering wheel and gave a small squeeze. "I would never do that and you know it. All I want is for you to be happy, Finn. She makes you happy?"

Finn took his hand off the steering wheel and wrapped his fingers up with Rey's. "More than I can put into words."

"Then I cannot wait to meet her," Rey said, letting go of Finn's hand and settling back in her seat. "Should we all have dinner together tonight or something?"

"She's at the office, probably wondering where the fuck I am," Finn said, smiling widely. "It took you a lot longer to get out of there than I thought it would."

"It took forever at baggage claim," Rey said, watching the buildings as they passed by. "So does Rose work for you or for me or is she just there waiting?"

"Oh, for me," Finn said quickly. "She's my assistant. Though she does like to sneak off in the afternoons and bowl a couple of games with Jessika."

"Who is Jessika?"

"Jessika works for you," Finn said, sending a smile in Rey's direction. "She runs the entire place practically on her own."

"I like her already."

"Her brother's cute, for the record. I think you'll like him."

Rey rolled her eyes and sighed. "No setting me up."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Finn said, but Rey could tell by the tone of his voice that he was lying. "Hungry? I should introduce you to the joys of In-N-Out Burger. Or maybe Del Taco."

Rey laughed. "Wherever you want to go, Finn. I'll even let you order for me so I don't mess it up."

"Smart girl," Finn laughed. "Del Taco it is, then. It's Rose's favorite. We'll bring her some."

"Sounds good."

"And don't ever say anything to my parents about Rose. They think she's just my assistant."

Rey looked over at him. "I already told you I wouldn't do that to you."

"I'm just making sure."

"Well, my lips are sealed."

"Good."

*****

Finn pulled the car into the nearly empty parking lot, and Rey let her eyes wander across the big, brick building. It looked like it had been built a century or two ago, but for the gigantic neon sign above the entrance, proclaiming the building to be Resistance Lanes. A smaller sign hung just to the left of the entrance, indicating Finn's law office was located inside and to the left. She heard Finn getting out of the car and so she did the same, and then she leaned up against the door and continued to stare at the building. "So this is it, huh?"

"This is it," Finn said, leaning up against the car next to her. "What do you think?"

"I think it looks like it's not very busy."

"It generally isn't this time of day," Finn said. "Business picks up around two, and then you get really busy from five to midnight. But once fall hits, you'll be busy from the moment it opens till the moment it closes because of all the leagues."

Rey sighed as she stared at the building. "I can't believe I'm looking at something that's mine. I've never had anything that's mine like this before."

"Maybe that's one of the reasons Jaxon left it to you," Finn said softly, taking Rey by the hand and pulling her away from the car. "Come on, time to go inside."

They walked across the parking lot and through the doors, and they were immediately greeted by a group of small children running past the front counter, a woman sitting on it and yelling at them. "You walk when you're in here, you hear me? There's no running around like hooligans in this place! People are trying to work!"

"Sorry, Jessika!" A woman trailing behind the children called out. "I'm trying to get them under control!"

"Well, try a little harder, won't ya? Finn's gonna be back soon and he can't be working on important legal stuff while you've got those kids running around like this is a playground!"

Finn laughed and drew Jessika's attention to them, and Jessika suddenly jumped down from the counter and moved to smooth out the hideously ugly red-and-orange-striped shirt she was wearing, the Resistance Lanes logo just under her right shoulder. "Finn! Didn't hear you come in."

"How could you with those screaming kids?" Finn asked, pulling Rey towards Jessika. "Jessika, I'd like you to meet Jaxon's great-niece Rey. Rey, this is Jessika. She's the alley's manager."

"It's nice to meet you, Rey," Jessika said, sticking out a hand for Rey to shake. "Jaxon said so much about you in those last few weeks, trying to prepare us all for when you got here."

Rey shook her hand lightly, then stared at her for a moment. "What on earth are you wearing?"

"My uniform. They were Cally's idea."

"It's hideous."

Jessika looked visibly relieved. "Thank God. Jaxon wouldn't listen when we talked about updating them to something more modern. Do you think maybe I could put together some ideas for new uniforms and present them to you?"

"Um, sure. Just, uh, just wear your normal clothes until then."

"Brilliant. I like you already." The screaming children went running past them again, and Jessika gave them an apologetic look. "Sorry. I'll get them under control, Finn. You mind if I open up the arcade?"

Rey glanced over at Finn before realizing she was the one who was supposed to answer. "There's an arcade?"

"Yeah, but Jaxon never really had it open. He hated all the noise of the games."

"I can handle some noise if it makes those kids stop screaming," Rey said, bringing a smile to Jessika's face. 

"Excellent! I'll be back."

Rey watched as Jessika went running after the children before turning towards Finn. "I didn't sign up for children."

Finn rolled his eyes. "It's summer, Rey. This is a summer activity. They go back to school in a few weeks. Deal with it. Come on, I'll introduce you to Rose."

Rey followed Finn to the left of the counter and past the snack bar to where a small office area was set up behind lanes five, six, seven, and eight. Finn opened the door into the office and walked in, tossing the takeout bag he was holding towards the woman sitting at the desk on the right side. 

"Brought you Del Taco, babe."

"I was wondering what was taking you so damn long," the woman said, reaching inside the bag and pulling the food out. "I'm fucking starving."

Rey stood there while Finn walked over to his desk, and eventually, the woman looked up, holding out her free hand. "So this must be the infamous Rey. Rose Tico."

"The infamous Rey I am," she said, shaking her hand. "You're the one that makes Finn smile like that?"

"Yup," Rose said, unfolding the wrapper on one of her tacos. "You got a problem with that? Because he said you might have a problem with that."

"I have no problem with that," Rey said, glaring at Finn. "I don't know why he thinks that I would have a problem with that."

"Well, he wasn't sure," Rose said, moving to take a bite of her taco when the phone started to ring. "Fuck, can't even eat my lunch. Excuse me."

Rose set down her food and answered the phone, so Rey wandered closer to Finn's desk to talk to him, but then Rose announced the call was for Finn and walked from her desk to behind Finn's desk and started pulling various folders out of a filing cabinet, so Rey decided she better get out of there before she interrupted something important. 

She walked back out into the bowling alley and took a good look at the inside of it. There were thirty-two lanes, with seating around them so they were paired off. A couple of older gentlemen were bowling on lane two, and there was what looked to be a family of four bowling on lane twenty-six. The carpet on the floor was atrocious, black with some sort of pattern of neon-colored planets and spaceships all over it, but there was a banner above lanes fifteen and sixteen about something called cosmic bowling, so Rey thought maybe it had something to do with that.

She wandered down towards the other side of the building, passing by the snack bar that looked like it needed immediate modernization and what appeared to be a shop where they sold bowling balls until she was standing in the doorway to the arcade with her eyes wide. She walked in even though the children were still making lots of noise and started to examine all of the pinball machines and video games, some of which looked ancient and some of which looked brand new. In the middle of the room was a pool table, and Jessika was sitting on its edge, watching as the children were jumping up and down on some sort of dance machine.

"Jaxon hated the noise, huh?"

Jessika started and immediately jumped down off the pool table. "Rey! I didn't hear you come in."

"Jessika, I get that you're trying to impress me," Rey said, ignoring the small gasp that escaped her. "Don't. Finn told me you run this place, and I want you to continue doing exactly what you were doing before. The less I have to do, the better."

Jessika looked visibly relieved. "Sorry, it's just...we had no idea if you were going to come in here and fire everyone or what. Jaxon talked a lot about you but said he didn't really know you too well."

"I'm not going to fire anyone," Rey said, leaning up against the pinball machine. "In fact, I'd prefer if you handled all of that."

"I can do that," Jessika said, walking around the pool table. "You want me to show you to Jaxon's office? Or well, your office I suppose it is now?"

"Sure. And when Finn comes looking for me, let him know I'm in there."

"Will do, boss."

Jessika walked her back to the main counter and to the small enclosed office that was behind it. Rey thanked her kindly then closed the door for some privacy, sitting down behind the desk and looking around the room. Hundreds of photographs filled the wall in front of her, and Rey instantly recognized Jaxon from her memories, even though the man had aged considerably since she'd last seen him. The diminutive Cally was beside him in some of them, but most were with people that Rey didn't recognize, but for Jessika. She figured some were employees based upon the hideously ugly red-and-orange-striped shirts and decided that the rest must have been people who patronized the bowling alley. She leaned back in the chair and let her eyes zero in on a picture of Jaxon and Jessika, both with huge grins and waving at the camera.

She was still staring at the picture wall when her office door opened almost an hour later, Finn storming into the room with a look of murder on his face. "What's got you so angry?"

Finn slammed the office door shut and collapsed into the chair across from the desk. "So I may have left out something about this whole thing."

Rey sat up straight and stared at Finn carefully. "And what would that be?"

"There is this arrogant as fuck lawyer who works for some billionaire developer that's been trying to buy out the entire block so they can bulldoze it and build skyscrapers," Finn said quickly. "Jaxon and the people who own the rest of the businesses along this block made a pact not to give in because they all believed that small businesses should be allowed to exist without big business coming in and wiping them off the map."

"Okay," Rey said slowly. "So what you're trying to say is that someone wants to buy out the business, which is exactly what you told me I could let someone do if I came here and didn't want this."

"Yes, but when I told you that, I meant Mr. Kenobi, the man who owns the pharmacy next door, not this gigantic corporation who just needs one of you to give in before it can force the rest into doing the same!" Finn exclaimed, running his hands over his head. "Look, the arrogant as fuck lawyer has found out Jaxon died and is here to sweet talk you and offer you tons of money to sell out. I'm in here to beg you not to listen to him. I know you haven't made up your mind about the place yet, but please, Rey, don't give in to this guy."

"Finn," Rey said softly. "Calm down."

"You hate this place. I can tell. But the fact of the matter is that Mr. Kenobi will give you fair value for this place, and fair value is a lot more than you imagine it is, and he won't ruin the spirit around here. He won't put the rest of the block out of business. So please, no matter how much money this guy flaunts in your face, please don't give in. Please."

"Finn."

"I'll go talk to Mr. Kenobi right now. I'll get you hooked up with a real estate agent. I'll do everything. Just don't give in to arrogant as fuck lawyer guy."

"Finn!" Rey exclaimed, prompting him to shut up immediately. "You're right, I haven't made up my mind about this place yet, so no, I'm not going to agree to sell it to anyone. So take a deep breath and go back to work."

Finn took a deep breath and gave Rey a soft smile. "Promise me."

"I promise, but you're going to tell me more about this pact Jaxon made later."

"Deal," Finn said, standing up. "Okay. I'll, um, I'll tell Jessika to let the arrogant as fuck lawyer guy in."

Rey bit back a laugh at Finn's animosity towards this lawyer and nodded. "Sounds good."

"Okay," Finn said, walking out of the office while Rey had a silent chuckle about his craziness.

There was a swift knock at the door a few moments later and then it was opening and Jessika was leading in a man in an exceptionally expensive-looking suit into the room. "Rey, this is DJ. DJ, this is Rey, the bowling alley's new owner."

DJ stuck out a hand and gave Rey a brilliant smile. "Pleased to meet you, Rey."

Rey could tell immediately why Finn despised the guy. "Same," she said, shaking DJ's hand. "Sit down, please. Thank you, Jessika."

Jessika took the hint and left the office as DJ sat down in the chair Finn had vacated moments earlier. "I am sorry to hear about your uncle," he said as he set his briefcase down next to the chair. "He was a good man."

"I wouldn't really know," Rey said honestly. "I barely knew him."

"Jaxon was a man of principles, and I have great respect for that," DJ said, adjusting the sleeves of his expensive-looking suit coat. "However, his principles were severely outdated, much like this establishment, and he refused to see reason when it came to the reality of the situation."

"And what situation is that?" Rey said, leaning back in her chair.

A grin crossed DJ's face. "Money equals power, Rey. My client has lots of money, therefore he is the one with the power. I know Jaxon had a pact with the rest of the block's owners not to sell to my client, but looking at you, I can tell that you're an intelligent woman. You can see reason. You know the thing to do is sell this rundown waste of time, take the money, and go live a life of luxury in Palm Springs."

Rey's eyes shifted from DJ's face back to the wall of pictures, and she focused on Jaxon's smile for a moment before deciding that Finn's description of DJ had been spot on. Arrogant as fuck lawyer guy indeed. "Jaxon was my grandfather's brother," she said seriously. "And my father would tell us tales of his crazy uncle and his dreams. And now that I'm here, and I'm looking at Jaxon's dream, I don't think he was so crazy."

The smile slipped slightly from DJ's face. "Excuse me?"

"He believed in me," Rey said softly. "I don't know how or why or what gave him the idea that leaving me this place was a good idea, but he believed in me when no one else did. And because of that, I cannot let his dream die with him."

"I'm sorry?"

"This place might be a rundown waste of time, but it's my rundown waste of time now, and it's going to be mine for the foreseeable future. So whatever you're here to offer me, the answer is no."

The smile disappeared completely from DJ's face. "You're kidding me."

"No, I'm being completely serious," Rey said, letting a smile of her own come to the surface. "Thank you for coming in, DJ, but I don't want to listen to whatever well-rehearsed speech you have to give me."

DJ reached up and adjusted his tie before picking up his briefcase and standing up. "I'll give you a few weeks. That should be long enough to change your mind. Good afternoon, Rey."

DJ walked out of the office and Jessika came in a few moments later, a worried look on her face. "Do I have to start looking for a new job?"

"No," Rey said, shaking her head. "I turned him down."

Jessika gave a visible sigh of relief and smiled at her. "Thank God. I get so worried whenever that man comes around here."

"Well, you do not need to be worried," Rey said, standing up. "So, Jessika, how about you show me around the place? So far I've seen the inside of my office, the inside of Finn's office, and the inside of the arcade. I'm sure there's more."

"Oh sure," Jessika said, her mood brightening. "Where do you want to start?"

"Wherever you want," Rey said, following her out of the office.


	2. Chapter 2

A few hours later, Finn led Rey back out to the car, pushing her towards the backseat so that Rose could sit in the front one. "So did you decide if you are staying at my place or yours tonight?"

"Mine, I guess," Rey said, running her hands over her face. "I keep forgetting that I have a place."

"Then I'll take you there first," Finn said, climbing behind the wheel and starting the car. "Unless you'll change your mind and let me take you out to dinner for ignoring your hormones and turning DJ down."

"Ignoring my hormones?" Rey burst out laughing. "Okay, I'll admit that the guy is good looking, but he is _so_ not my type, Finn."

"Trust me, if DJ thought fucking you would get you to agree to his deal, he would totally do it."

"You sound like you know him fairly well."

Finn put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking space. "Fuck off."

Rose turned to look at Rey with a wicked smile on her face. "He doesn't want to tell you. He didn't want to tell me."

"You can fuck off as well, Rose."

"Tell me what?"

"Finn and DJ used to work at the same office," Rose said, ignoring the way Finn was trying to cover her mouth with his hand. "They had several interesting workplace altercations before he finally gave in and went out on his own."

Rey burst out laughing again. "Oh, Finn. You would. You so would."

"Shut the fuck up!" Finn exclaimed.

Rey kept laughing and Rose joined in, and Finn fumed from the driver's seat as the two began to trade stories about him back and forth. When he could finally get a word in at a red light, he turned around and glared at Rey. "Your dinner invitation has been revoked, asshole."

"Lighten up, babe," Rose said, leaning over to kiss him softly. "We're just having some fun."

"I am seriously regretting ever introducing you two."

"Why?" Rey asked, smiling when Finn glared at her again. "Rose and I are going to get along brilliantly."

Finn flipped her off and turned his attention back to driving, weaving his way through the San Francisco streets until he pulled up in front of a two-story brick house that was much nicer than Rey had been expecting. "Key's under the mat, your stuff is in the trunk, and I'll see you in the morning."

Rose tried to reason with him, but Rey told her to let it go, knowing that Finn would be fine by morning. She climbed out of the car and got her suitcases out of the trunk, then stood back and watched as Finn pulled the car out of the driveway and sped away. 

Rey walked over to the front door and lifted the welcome mat, frowning when she didn't see a key lying there. She sighed heavily and reached for her phone, quickly dialing Finn's number.

"Hello?"

"There's no key under the mat, Finn."

"I know." Rey could hear the smugness in Finn's voice. "I'll be back around to let you into the house once Rose and I are finished with dinner."

"Jerk," Rey muttered. "Come let me into the house."

"As I said, after Rose and I are done with dinner. You deserve this, Rey. You know what you get for making fun of me."

"Finn," Rey started, but she heard the soft click as the line went dead. Kicking at one of her suitcases, she sat down on the porch steps and ran her hands through her hair. "What the fuck am I supposed to do now?"

She sat there for a few minutes before she noticed someone walking up the sidewalk towards her, and she looked up to find a man with a bright smile waving at her. 

"You must be Jaxon's niece!" the man said, coming to a stop in front of her and holding out his hand. "I'm Snap. My friend Poe and I live across the street. Jaxon told us all about you."

Rey shook Snap's hand and let out a small laugh. "I find that hard to believe seeing as Jaxon hardly knew anything about me, but it's nice to meet you, Snap. I'm Rey."

"Welcome to the neighborhood. Poe and I have been looking forward to meeting you. Mind if I join you?"

Rey shook her head and slid over on the steps. "Feel free."

"Thanks," Snap said, sitting down. "Jaxon was a great guy, employed us both for a while. I'd go get Poe so we could swap stories but he's not home from work yet. He's so busy. They just started a new research project."

"Research project?"

"Yeah, he works at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He's a microbiologist. He'll bore you to tears if you ask about work, so I suggest you don't ask about work. But any other subject he's normal as hell."

Rey nodded her head and turned her gaze across the street. "You have a nice house."

"Thanks," Snap said, beaming. "We're trying really hard to fix it up nice, make some good money off of it when we flip."

"Flip?"

"Flip it," Snap said, looking over at Rey. "Fix it up and sell it for more than we paid for it. What about you? Planning on doing any updates to this place?"

"I have no idea," Rey said. "I haven't even been inside yet."

"I see," Snap said, stretching out his legs. "So? Girlfriend, boyfriend, family?"

"Have never had, used to have, and maybe someday if I meet the right person," Rey said, sighing heavily. "It's all really complicated."

"Can't be that complicated," Snap said, shrugging his shoulders. "But then again, Poe and I haven't had it super easy in the girlfriends' department either, so I probably don't know what the fuck I'm talking about."

"I'm supposed to be starting over here," Rey said with conviction, surprising herself. "I promised myself when I got on the plane here that I was leaving the pathetic, scared piece of shit that I was behind, and I was going to live the way I wanted to live out here. And I have no idea how to do it."

Snap wrapped his arm around Rey's shoulders and laughed. "Oh, Poe is going to love you. He'll have you with us at the clubs in no time, and then he'll make sure you work your way through our friends before he sets you loose on the general public."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Snap said, letting go of her. 

Rey started to say that she wasn't sure about that, but she stopped herself before she could make a sound and nodded. "Sounds great."

"Fantastic. We'll arrange a time once Poe is around, but right now, I've got to go cook us some dinner," Snap said, standing up and holding out his hand to Rey once more. "It was really great to meet you, Rey. I look forward to seeing you around."

"Same," she said, shaking Snap's hand again. 

"Will do. Talk to you soon," Snap said, jogging down the sidewalk and back across the street, waving the entire way.

Rey took a deep breath and leaned back against the steps, staring up at the various colors the setting sun had projected into the sky. She sat there for a few minutes before she heard a car pull into the driveway and she tilted her head down to find Finn and Rose climbing out of Finn's car with paper bags in their hands. 

"I'm a jerk," Finn called out as he walked towards her. "We brought keys and In-N-Out Burger as a peace offering."

Rey smiled and stood up, reaching out to take the bags from Finn's hands. "I'm starving. Peace offering accepted. And I'm kind of glad you left me sitting here. I think I made a friend."

"Really?" Finn asked, a slight surprise in his voice. "Let's get inside and then you can tell me all about it."

*****

Rey walked into Finn's office on Monday afternoon and stood politely next to Rose's desk until she finished up her phone call. "Can I talk to Finn for a few minutes?"

"Um," Rose said, bringing up the afternoon's schedule on the computer. "I can block off about fifteen minutes as soon as he gets done with the client he's in with now."

"And when will he be done with them?" Rey asked, only to have the answer given to her when the door to the meeting room opened and Finn walked out with the client. "Never mind."

The client walked over to Rose's desk and asked to schedule another appointment for the following week, so Rey quickly moved behind them and grabbed Finn by the elbow, leading him back into the meeting room. As soon as she was sure that the door was shut, she turned to face him and gave him a disbelieving look. "Christ, Finn, you never told me there was _that much_ money in that bank account!"

"Which one?" Finn said calmly, pulling his arm from Rey's grasp and sitting down at the table. "Because there are accounts at three different banks, and they all have similar amounts of money in them."

Rey collapsed down into the chair next to him and pulled the paperwork from the bank out of her jacket's pocket. "I went to the first one on that list you gave me. And they were very nice and very helpful in getting his bank accounts put into my name like you said they would be, and then she prints out a balance sheet and...holy shit, Finn."

Finn unfolded the paperwork that Rey handed him and looked at the name of the bank and the balances on the sheet before nodding. "Yes, that seems about right. There have been a few deposits since the last time I saw the balances from this bank, but the difference in amount seems accurate."

"Finn, that savings account has nearly two million dollars in it," Rey choked out, her hands shaking. "You never said anything about that much money. Ever."

"Jaxon was a shrewd businessman who made many good deals in his life." Finn set the paperwork aside and reached out to take Rey's right hand in his. "Look, Jaxon told me that if your parents knew the amount of money involved, they'd be challenging the estate like vultures. So he told me not to say anything until you got out here. That's why I waited. And then it's just been a seriously busy several days since you got here, Rey. I hadn't gotten this far and I figured that just sending you to the banks would kill two birds with one stone if you get what I'm saying."

"Finn..."

"The total value of Jaxon's estate is slightly over ten million dollars," Finn said seriously. "The money is tied up in the bowling alley, the house, the building that the laundromat is in, the two cars, and the rest is in these accounts. Jaxon wasn't extravagant, Rey. He believed in living as frugally as possible. That's why he never updated this bowling alley. That's why both of the cars in your garage were made in the late 1980s. That's why he never raised the laundromat's rent. That's why he lived in the same house that he bought when he first moved to San Francisco even though he could have easily sold it for a lot of money and moved into a much pricier neighborhood. And the results of all his frugality is that you have a lot of available resources to modernize the bowling alley, get yourself a brand new car, fix up the house so it doesn't look like it's still 1976 on the inside, and still have a hell of a lot of money left over. That's why Jaxon kept turning down the money DJ came in here and offered time after time after time. He didn't need it."

Rey stared at Finn for a moment before leaning down against the table and covering her head with her hands. "I don't know what to say."

"You know why Jaxon left it all to you?" Finn slid his chair closer to Rey's and pulled her hands away from her head. "Because you were making it on your own. Yes, you were barely hanging on there at the end. But you would have found a way to make your rent without having to ask your parents for the money, and you would have found another odd job to do until it ran out and you needed to move on to the next one, and you would have survived. What your parents thought were calls full of details about how useless you are were really calls that told Jaxon how _useful_ you are. Useful and resourceful and creative. And out of all his relatives, Jaxon thought that those qualities meant you deserved this reward."

Rey turned her head so she could see Finn, and Finn reached for her hand again when he saw the tears in Rey's eyes. "He believed in you when I'm not sure you even believed in yourself. And this was his way of letting you know that."

"Finn, I'm not sure I can handle all of this," Rey mumbled. "I mean, I could barely keep twenty dollars in my pocket without spending it on something absurdly stupid that I didn't need. And now there's all this money and I just..."

"Stay here for a minute," Finn said, leaning forward and kissing Rey on the head before disappearing from the room. He returned a few minutes later and sat down with a couple of forms and a business card, then pushed Rey lightly in the shoulder. "Sit up."

Rey straightened up and looked over at the papers he was arranging on the table. "What is all of this?"

"Well, the papers are stuff that I think we need to fill out that officially makes me your lawyer," Finn said, sliding the business card over in front of her. "This is the business card of the financial adviser Mr. Kenobi uses."

"A. Skywalker & Associates," Rey read aloud. "Anakin Skywalker, owner and chief financial adviser. You think this guy could help me?"

"I know he could help you," Finn said. "I tried to get Jaxon to set up an appointment with him once I realized how much money was involved in this estate, but he wouldn't do it. You, on the other hand, sound like you need to do it. And I'll take care of setting up the appointment and going to it with you and everything if you sign these forms."

"You need to be my lawyer for that?"

"Probably not but I'd feel better about it all if you signed them, just so that I can say that I was your legal representative at the time of all this advising and stuff that I'm doing with you. I don't think the estate lawyer is supposed to be telling the heir to the estate what to do with the estate's contents." Rey nodded and Finn slid the papers over, pointing to where Rey needed to sign and handing her a pen. "Don't worry, my fees are beyond reasonable."

"I don't think that's something I need to worry about anymore," Rey said, wonder still in her voice as she signed her name on the line where Finn was pointing. "How am I ever going to explain this to my parents?"

"If you want my opinion," Finn said, taking away the paper Rey had signed and sliding another one in front of her and pointing to where she needed to sign on that form, "I think you shouldn't tell them."

"I have to tell them," Rey said as she signed the form. "How can I not tell them?"

"Rey, I love your parents, but I think Jaxon was right about them," Finn said, taking the form back and putting all the papers in a neat stack. "If they knew that you had all of this, they'd want what they considered their fair share of it."

"But who is to say that they don't deserve a fair share of it?" Rey asked, turning to look at Finn with a serious look on her face. "I should use some of that money to take care of my family."

"Jaxon said they don't deserve a fair share of it. There's an entire paragraph in his will about it and I will be happy to let you read it," Finn said, putting a paperclip on the stack of papers. "I can't tell you how to spend your money, but I can tell you that if my family treated me the way your family treats you, I wouldn't be speaking to them, let alone thinking about giving them that sort of a gift. Your parents treat you like you're worthless."

"I am."

"They acted like your major life achievements don't matter at all."

"I deserved it."

"And there's also the fact that the moment your parents find out that I haven't slipped an engagement ring onto your finger, they'll probably be more disappointed in you than ever."

Rey sighed heavily and slumped down in the chair. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?"

Finn leaned over and kissed the top of her head, then stood up. "Better to keep reality in perspective, Rey. Don't live in some sort of fantasy land where everything is going to work out okay because you know it's not. Now get out of my meeting room. I have clients coming in."


	3. Chapter 3

"More beer!" Snap exclaimed, setting a couple of pitchers down on the table so hard that some of the beer slopped out of them and onto Rey.

But Rey barely noticed and was too drunk to care, her eyes focused across the room on a guy she'd been noticing all over the club that night. Snap dropped down into the chair next to her and followed Rey's gaze, wrapping his arm around Rey's shoulders and nodding approvingly. 

"Nice one. Now, why are you just staring at him? Go get him."

"Nah," Rey said, reaching for her glass. "I don't think he'd be interested."

Snap gave her an incredulous look. "You're fucking kidding me, right? 'Cause that man has had his eyes glued to you since we walked in here tonight."

"No, he hasn't."

"Every time you look away, he looks at you."

Rey tore her eyes away from him to look at Snap, shaking her head embarrassingly. "I wouldn't know what to do. I've been picked up but I've never tried to pick anyone up."

Rey watched as Snap reached for a glass and poured himself some beer before turning her eyes to the dance floor, where Poe was kissing a girl heavily while they danced. "Does he do this often? That's the third girl tonight."

Snap turned his eyes to the dance floor as he drank half his glass. "Poe ends up with a lot of extra nervous energy because of his research. So we go out every weekend so that he can find someone and have some sex. It's the only way to get rid of it. But yeah, third girl tonight means he didn't get the first two's numbers. He'll only do this if he gets the girl's number. It's sort of a principled thing he has. He doesn't just want one night stands. He'd really rather have a relationship."

"Ah, I see." Rey surveyed the surroundings until she found the guy she'd been staring at again, letting out a small yelp when she realized the guy was staring right back at her. "He's staring at me."

"I told you that he's been looking at you! Now get your ass over there and talk to him."

"You think?"

"I know," Snap said, standing up and pulling Rey out of her chair. "Go forth, young lady, and get yourself laid."

Rey looked back at Snap for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking in the direction of the guy. The guy motioned his head towards the bar and Rey followed him there, arriving next to him just in time to hear him finish his order. 

"Two. One for me, and one for my new friend."

His voice sent shivers down Rey's spine, and when the shots arrived and the guy slid one in front of her, she didn't even bother asking what it was, just picked up the glass and knocked it back. 

They stared at each other for a moment before the guy knocked back his own shot and started to laugh. "Christ, you must think I'm pathetic. Staring at you all night like that, too fucking scared to make a move."

"Hey, I was doing the same thing," she shouted over the loud music, smiling when the guy smiled at her. "I'm Rey."

"Ben," the guy said, holding out his hand to shake. 

"Nice to meet you, Ben," Rey said, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Rey," Ben said, and Rey found herself pulled against Ben's chest faster than she could blink. "Can I kiss you?" 

Rey nodded and Ben pressed their lips together gently, which Rey had not been expecting.

"Sorry, god, that was such a dick move," Ben said when he pulled back. "I've just wanted to do that since the first moment I saw you."

"It's fine," Rey choked out. "Do it whenever you want."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Rey shuddered as one of Ben's hands suddenly curled around the back of her neck. "We could do more than that if we went back to my place."

"Al-alright," Rey said shakily, smiling when Ben grabbed her hand suddenly and pulled her towards the exit. She tried to say that she needed to tell Snap and Poe that she was leaving, but then she caught sight of Snap and Poe standing on top of their table, staring at them with stupid grins on their face and applauding, so she decided that they had figured it out.

The taxi ride back to Ben's place seemed to take ages, but looking at the taxi's clock, it only took about fifteen minutes, and then they were stumbling up the stairs to reach the second floor of the building and Ben had her pinned against the door as he struggled to unlock it and then they were falling into the apartment and Rey had never felt so good in her life, so she just closed her eyes and went with it.

When she opened them again, she was lying naked in Ben's bed, a bedsheet barely covering her. The light peeking in from underneath the shades let her know that it was several hours later, and then she turned to see Ben sitting up next to her in bed, reading from what looked like a manuscript. 

"Is it morning?"

"Good, you're awake. It's about ten after eight." Ben looked down at her and smiled. "This is terribly embarrassing, but somewhere in my hangover I have managed to forget your name."

"Rey," she said, grabbing onto the sheet and sitting up next to him. "Can I have a reminder of yours, just to make sure my brain's working properly?"

"Ben," he said.

"Right," Rey said. "Morning, I guess."

"Morning indeed." Ben motioned towards the manuscripts. "I hope you're not offended by these. I've just got today to learn all of them pretty much by heart. We're recording all week."

"Not offended at all," Rey said. "What are they?"

"Scripts," Ben said. "I voice a couple of characters in this animated series." 

"I love animation and that sounds like one of the coolest jobs on the planet. What series?"

" _First Order_."

"Kylo Ren!" Rey exclaimed. "You're the voice of Kylo Ren! I cannot believe I didn't notice that last night. Kylo is my favorite character on _First Order_."

Ben smiled. "You can tell? Most people can't. My best friend can't even tell."

"It's the lilt you've got. You keep it for Kylo's voice. Who else do you voice?"

"Moden Canady. I still can't believe that you can tell I voice Kylo."

Rey pondered that. "Yeah, you totally disguise your voice for Canady 'cause I would never have guessed that. But Kylo, you're totally Kylo." 

Ben let out a small laugh and looked over at Rey. "Well, we have something to talk about at least. No awkward silence."

"Yeah," Rey said, letting her head drift back against the wall. "I'm kind of an animation junkie, to be honest."

"Me too. The world should be animated."

"Imagine being able to live in a galaxy far, far away. That would be the greatest thing ever."

Ben laughed. "Some days it feels like I do."

Rey laughed too then fell silent for a moment. "I'm going to sound like a complete moron, but last night was incredible. Is it always that amazing for you?"

Ben dropped the script down to his lap and leaned his head back against the wall. "No," he said honestly. "I mean, there haven't been that many besides you, but it was pretty spectacular."

"So no regrets? 'Cause I don't have any."

"No. Definitely not."

Rey got quiet. "So is this the part where you kick me out?"

"Actually, I was thinking this was the part where I make you breakfast," Ben said, sliding the scripts onto the mattress. "Or better yet, we could get dressed and go to the little café across the street for breakfast."

"Sounds great," Rey said, swallowing hard when Ben climbed from the bed and she got a good look at the naked body of the man she'd spent the night with. 

Ben turned back towards the bed and caught her staring, then smiled mischievously. He picked up the scripts and dropped them to the floor, then pulled the bedsheet away and crawled back onto the bed. "I think that maybe this might be a better time for round number two, now that I think about it."

Rey yelped as she was pulled down the bed, but then Ben was on top of her and they were kissing again, and she let herself get swept away by it all.

*****

It was nearly dusk by the time that Rey found herself getting out of a taxi at the house she still couldn't think of as hers and she couldn't keep the smile off her face. The smile diminished slightly when she saw Finn's car parked in the driveway, but she quickly shook herself out of it. She was going to have to tell Finn about Ben sooner rather than later, especially since they had plans to see each other again the following weekend once Ben's week of recording in Los Angeles was over.

She made her way to the front door, frowning when she heard more than just Finn's voice coming from inside. She let herself in and found Finn and Rose sitting on the sofa, while Poe sat in one of the armchairs with Snap in the other. Everyone stopped talking when she walked through the door, and Rey smiled sheepishly. 

"Hi?" she tried.

Finn was up off the sofa and throwing his arms around her in a nanosecond. "Rey! Thank God. I was starting to think that you'd gone home with a serial killer or something. For fuck's sake, you cannot do things like that. It's not safe."

"It's perfectly safe!" Snap called out. "Our girl got exactly what she was looking for, didn't you?"

Finn stepped back and Rey swallowed hard as she realized everyone was staring at her, waiting for an answer. "I'm fine. Perfectly fine. He isn't a serial killer, I got what I wanted, and I got a little more than that too. Now get out of my house. I want to sleep."

Poe stood and pulled Snap up. "Come on. You heard her."

"Fine," Snap pouted. "But you are so coming over tomorrow night and telling us all about it!"

"Not a chance in hell!" Rey said as they passed, accepting a kiss from each of her new friends as they made their way to the door. "Same for you two. Out."

"You know he's not going to listen to you, right?" Rose asked from her spot on the sofa. "'Cause he's totally not going to listen to you. He went crazy when he found out what you did last night."

"A stranger, Rey! You went home with a stranger!"

Rey rolled her eyes and pushed past Finn and walked towards the kitchen. "Like you've never done that."

"I have not."

"Bullshit," Rey called out. "There was that Antonia girl."

"Same French class."

"Donna."

"Worked at the photo developer next to the café I worked at."

"Iris."

"Her mother is my mother's best friend. I've known her since childhood."

"Are you going to have an answer for every name I come up with?"

"Yes, because I have never gone home with a _perfect stranger_."

Rey pulled open the refrigerator and reached for one of the beers she'd bought a few days earlier, then reminded herself that she really needed to buy something other than beer unless she wanted to live on Del Taco for the rest of her life. "Finn, I don't know what to say to you. You want me to enjoy myself, but you don't want me to talk to strangers. That doesn't exactly make any sense."

Finn walked into the kitchen doorway and watched as Rey opened her beer and tossed the metal cap into the trash can. "Talk to strangers, Rey. Not _go home_ with strangers."

Rey let out a mental scream and drank down half the bottle before taking a deep breath and looking in Finn's direction. "I told you, Finn, I'm not going to be the same scared as fuck kid that I was at home. You encouraged me to experiment. I experimented. And I happened to meet a really great guy who wants to see me again. So I'm going to see him again, whether you like it or not. Deal with it."

"Rey," Finn started but stopped when Rose came up behind him and wrapped her arms around Finn's waist. 

"Babe, I think it's time for you to stop being Rey's mother and let her live her life."

"I just don't want something to happen to her," Finn said, slumping back against his girlfriend. "I just got my best friend back. I don't want to lose her again."

"Hey, you're not losing me," Rey said seriously, walking over to where they were standing. "Christ, Finn, you see me every fucking day."

Finn sighed and reached out, grabbing Rey and pulling her into a hug. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I just had a scary experience with a one night stand once and I guess I was projecting my memories and the fear I still have onto your apparently fantastic night. Sorry."

"Who?" Rey said, anger in her voice. 

"No one that you know," Finn said softly. "It was while I was at Stanford. I've never seen the girl again."

"So you have gone home with a perfect stranger," Rose mused, pressing a kiss to Finn's neck. 

"No," Finn said, shaking his head. "We had the same Ethics of Law class. I never saw her again because I switched classes so I wouldn't have to see her."

"Oh, Finn," Rey said, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "You really think you have every bit of your life planned out, don't you?"

"I did until I met Rose," Finn said, leaning his head back on his girlfriend's shoulder. "Now she's the chaos that messes up my organized life."

"And you wouldn't want it any other way."

"No, I wouldn't," Finn said, letting go of Rey and turning around in Rose's embrace to kiss her softly.

Rey turned away and downed the rest of her beer, then went to the refrigerator and grabbed another. "Guys? Want a beer?"

When she didn't get a response, she peeked over the door to see that Finn had Rose pinned up against the doorway and they were still kissing. "Guys?" she tried again. When she got no response, she took her beer and shut the door, then squeezed past them and went back into the living room.

She settled down in front of the television and turned it on, then switched on the on-demand feature she'd discovered the previous day, flipping through the options until she found exactly what she was looking for. She pressed the buttons that made it start, then settled in for one of her favorite episodes of _First Order_.

The Hidden Talents of Kylo Ren.

*****

Rey sat in the waiting room nervously, glancing between where Finn sat on his phone and the receptionist behind the desk. She was an older lady with gray mixed into her dark brown hair, and every time Rey glanced in her direction, the woman smiled at her.

"You look nervous, dear," the woman eventually said. "No need for that. Ani couldn't hurt a fly."

"Ani?"

"Anakin, my husband," the woman said, motioning Rey over to the desk. "Come here, it looks like you need someone to talk to while your friend there is on the phone."

Rey glanced back at Finn before standing up and walking over the woman's desk and sitting down in front of it. "Thanks."

"No need to thank me, dear," the woman said. "I'm Padmé. This is my family's business. We've been running it together from this very office since 1977. You're in very good hands if I do say so myself."

Rey smiled at her. "I'm Rey. I just moved here. I don't even know if I'm staying. Some dead distant relative of mine left me a business and a bunch of money and I have absolutely no idea what to do with it."

"Well, don't worry, dear. Ani will be able to help." Padmé looked behind her when a door opened and she turned back to Rey with a smile. "Alright, Rey. Anakin will see you now."

Rey stood up and motioned to Finn, who quickly ended his call and walked towards her. They went inside the office and were greeted by the large back of a black desk chair, hiding the man they were supposed to see from view. Finn cleared his throat to get the man's attention, jumping when the chair swung around to reveal a smiling older man holding a bag of cookies.

"Sorry, sorry," Anakin Skywalker said, folding the bag closed and stashing it under his desk. "I thought I had time for one more cookie. Come in, sit down."

They briefly introduced themselves and Rey glanced over at Finn as they sat down across from the desk, but Finn didn't meet her gaze, instead smiling at the man as he reached inside his briefcase for the folder containing the paperwork describing Rey's financial situation.

"Thank you for meeting with us, Mr. Skywalker," Finn started, handing him the folder. "I know that you're incredibly busy."

"Anything for a friend of Old Ben's," the man said, taking the folder. "And call me Anakin, please. I don't like being called Mr. Skywalker."

"Who is Old Ben?" Rey asked, looking at Finn again.

"Mr. Kenobi. The man that owns the pharmacy next door."

"That I've never met?"

Finn turned to Rey with an exasperated look. "Well maybe if you spent more time at work, you would. But you don't spend time at work. Instead, you find a store that sells DVDs and buy every season of _First Order_ that you can find, then stay at home and watch them over and over."

"Well maybe if there was some reason for me to be at the bowling alley, I'd be there more. But there's not."

"I knew this money was going to go to your head."

"This money is not going to my head!"

"The hell it's not! You would never have done this back home."

"What?" Rey exclaimed. "What exactly do you think I did with my life, Finn? Absolutely fuck all, that's what. I don't know why you thought that was going to change when I came out here."

"Because I thought a change of scenery might make you realize that you are a motherfucking adult and that you need to start acting like one, but apparently I was wrong," Finn muttered, crossing his arms across his chest. "Maybe Jaxon was wrong about you after all."

"If the two of you are finished," Anakin interrupted, causing them both to look in his direction embarrassingly. "Perhaps my input can help resolve this situation."

"You can cure her of laziness?" Finn asked, sarcasm filling his voice.

Anakin just gave him a pointed look before turning his gaze back to the papers spread out in front of him. "To begin with, we need to restructure the way the funds are set up in accounts. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation only protects up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars per bank, and if any of the three banks that these funds are currently sitting in were to fail, that would be the only amount we would be able to recover from them."

"Okay, let's definitely do that," Rey said, nodding. "I had no idea about that."

"We'll make a primary account for the business, that all payroll and expenses can be paid out of, keep the balance at a steady limit that is below two hundred and fifty thousand, and then I'll figure out the best way to structure the rest of the funds so that they are protected." Anakin turned a couple of pages over and looked over at Finn. "Am I correct in assuming that you are the estate's lawyer?"

"Also her lawyer," Finn said, pointing at Rey. "We usually get along much better than this."

"Well, as far as disputes that have happened in this office between two people about money, yours doesn't even begin to register on the Richter scale," Anakin said with a smile. "It's also fully understandable. There's a large amount of money being dealt with here, and I'm sure you want what you're entitled to of it as the estate lawyer. Now can we talk about the business for a moment?"

Finn opened his mouth to protest what Anakin had just said but Rey held up her hand and nodded for Anakin to continue. "It's a bowling alley."

"It's a bowling alley, a pizza shop, and a nightclub," Anakin corrected with a smile. "I know more about this particular bowling alley than either of you may be aware of. I bowl with Old Ben on the pharmacy's Tuesday night league team."

"I knew you looked familiar," Finn declared, smiling. "See, this is great, Rey. We've got someone who knows the business to help out with the business."

"Fantastic," Rey droned, looking directly at Anakin. "Be honest with me. What's your opinion of the place?"

"It's extremely outdated and in need of serious modernization if you want it to remain a viable business," Anakin said, leaning back in his chair. "Old Ben and I have had many conversations over the years about what sort of maintenance and improvement needed to be made to the facility. The lanes need to be resurfaced for one thing. That hasn't happened in a considerable amount of time. You'd make every league bowler you've got much happier if that were to take place, and the league bowlers are your main customer base."

"I don't know what that means, but that can definitely be put on the list of things to do," Rey commented. "I've already got a couple of things on the list, and there should probably be more. I was hoping to find someone with some more experience with bowling alleys who might be able to tell me what needs to be done."

"My suggestion would be to talk to Mace then."

"Mace?"

"Mace Windu. Bowls in a number of your leagues. He's a former professional bowler and I know for a fact he's been complaining to Jaxon about how run down the place is for years. I have little doubt that he'd be more than happy to advise you on what needs to be done to the place."

"Of course. Mace. Why didn't I think of that? Sometimes when he's really upset that the lanes aren't working right, he steps into the office and asks if he can sue Jaxon for mismanagement." Finn let out a small laugh, then looked at Rey. "As a joke, of course."

"Sounds like I need to talk to this guy," Rey said, nodding at the paperwork Anakin was looking through. "So when you sort out the restructuring of the accounts, can we set up like a redevelopment fund or something?"

"An excellent idea," Anakin said, scribbling out a few notes. "No problem with that. I've got a rather busy couple of days, but I can probably get this all done by Friday, and then we'll have another meeting to go over all the changes I want to make, make sure that you're okay with all of them, and then we can implement them."

"That would be great, Anakin," Rey said, reaching out her hand to shake Anakin's. "Thank you so much."

"Not a problem. It is my job," Anakin said, turning his attention to Finn. "Are these copies for me or do I need to make some?"

"No, you can have those," Finn said, standing up. "Thank you, Anakin."

"Set up an appointment with Padmé for Friday," Anakin said, putting all the papers back into a folder and scribbling more notes on the outside of it. "Afternoon would probably work best for me if that's okay with you. If not, I'll make morning work."

"Afternoon would be fine," Finn said, opening the office door as Rey stood up. "See you on Friday."

"Oh and Finn?" Anakin interjected. "Just one last thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Rey wanting to spend some of the money she has on DVDs of _First Order_. She has more money than I'm sure she knows what to do with, and quite honestly, _First Order_ is one of the best shows on television."

Rey grinned as Finn huffed. "Anakin, I think you and I are going to get along extremely well."

"Thirteen-year-olds. I'm surrounded by thirteen-year-olds," Finn muttered as he walked out of the office. "Thank God for Rose or I'd go insane."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so there's a lot of names from Black Squadron and Cobalt Squadron tossed in throughout the rest of this story to fill out the other employees, just so you know.

Jessika opened up the magazine and set it in front of Rey, pointing to where she wanted her to look. "Consensus among the staff is that we go for these as the new uniforms. Red-and-white-striped polo shirts with the Resistance Lanes logo on the back. Get rid of the orange all together, because none of us looks good in orange." 

Rey tapped her pen against the desk as she looked at the image Jessika was pointing to. "That's certainly much better than what you were wearing the day I met you."

"I figured we could just order the shirts, make a rule that they should be worn with black pants or skirts, and then that would be that."

Rey stared at the picture for a moment then looked up at Jessika, taking in her simple white blouse and blue jeans. "Explain to me again the reason why we definitely need employee uniforms. I think you're appropriately dressed for the work you do."

"Yeah, I am," Jessika said, leaning back in her chair. "But Fossil came in today in a gold lame leotard with a sheer black skirt over the top, Spennie is serving customers with more cleavage falling out of her shirt than anyone should have to see no matter how perfect her breasts are, and Ello...well, you don't want to know what Ello wore to work last night, to be perfectly honest."

Rey stared at her with a blank expression until Jessika stood up and walked over to the wall and started pointing at various photographs. "Fossil is the girl who runs the tanning booth and I have no idea why we call her Fossil so don't ask. Spennie is the girl who works in the pizza shop. Ello is one of the bartenders in the Rebellion Club."

Rey coughed slightly. "Is Ello's shirt bedazzled in that photograph?"

"Yes," Jessika said seriously. "And you can guarantee that his new uniform will be getting equal treatment. He calls it self-expression. I think it creeps out some of the elderly customers but they don't really see him unless he's working a rare day shift, and no one in the club cares at night."

"And Spennie is the one kissing someone, right? Who is she kissing?"

"That's Nix, her fiancé. He used to work here but he doesn't anymore now that he's got his doctorate."

Rey's eyes widened in surprise. "Doctorate?"

"Yeah, he's one of those really smart guys you hear about. He's currently researching something to do with neuroscience at Cal-San Francisco. I'm sure he could tell you all about it when he comes in for the University Battle league, but honestly, all his technical jargon just goes straight over my head. I definitely don't fall into the super-smart category that he's in."

"University Battle league?"

Jessika nodded. "Yeah, different departments from Cal-San Francisco field teams. There are some interesting people in that league. Not your typical conversations either. You should really sit down with Luke and Mara. They'll totally explain the leagues to you."

"And Luke and Mara are?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker. Well, Jade-Skywalker in Mara's case. Luke is the president of the men's bowling club and Mara is the president of the women's bowling club. They each bowl on like four different leagues. They'll be in here a lot."

"Are they related to Anakin and Padmé?"

"Oh, you know Anakin and Padmé? Cool. Luke is their son."

"Anakin's helping me out with financial stuff." Rey motioned for Jessika to sit back down. "What's Fossil's deal? And we have a tanning booth?"

"She's crazy," Jessika said, sitting down again. "At least that's the common explanation around here. She's super-secret about her life outside of this building, so no one really knows what's going on with her, to be perfectly honest. But, yeah, super crazy. She's been wearing that leotard with a different skirt every day since you gave the order to stop wearing the hideous old uniforms. And the tanning booth is in the closet that's next to the one where we store all the cleaning supplies. It's one of those spray tanning things. Cally's idea."

"Never noticed that." Rey started tapping her pen against the desk again. "Alright, so new uniforms it is. Let me give this back to you, and you can figure out exactly what needs to be ordered and then get it done."

"Sounds brilliant," Jessika said, taking back the magazine. "Anything else?"

"I want to order a pair of bowling shoes to send to my parents, so if you could direct me towards where I could do that, I would appreciate it. Also, can you investigate carpeting for me?"

"Want to get rid of the spaceships, huh?"

Rey nodded vigorously. "I just think that toning down the carpet to a nice monotone black would make the place look far more tolerable."

"Agreed, but you'll totally have an argument on your hands when Lando comes in for cosmic bowling. He's really into the cosmic part of it."

Rey leaned back in her chair and ran her hands over her face. "Okay, two things. One, who is Lando? And two, what is cosmic bowling?"

"Lando is the DJ that comes in and plays the music for cosmic bowling. He and Jaxon were totally on the same page as far as how cosmic should work, and he'll totally not be happy that you aren't. And cosmic bowling happens at midnight on Friday and Saturday nights. Twenty dollars to get in, you can bowl as much as you want for two hours, Lando supplies the music, the lights get turned off and all these strobe lights and stuff get turned on. The place is packed full of people and it's a ton of fun, really."

"Huh," Rey said, sitting up. "I've never heard of that. Well, whenever this Lando guy shows up and I'm here, he can come to talk to me about what else we could do to make it more cosmicy for cosmic bowling because I'm sorry, that carpet is hideous and it's going."

Jessika laughed and stood up, gathering together her things and walking over to a shelf and plucking a book off of it. "This is the comprehensive book of bowling uniforms and shoes. Let me know which ones you want for your parents and I'll get them ordered for you."

Rey took the book from her when she held it out and flipped it over in her hands, taking in how thick it was. "I expected a magazine. This must be almost an inch thick."

"You can get bowling clothes that look like pretty much anything," Jessika said seriously, walking towards the office door. 

"I had no idea that so much went into bowling alley attire," Rey said, opening up the book and flipping to the index. "I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot."

"It's really not that complicated," Jessika said, walking out of the office. 

Rey slumped back in her chair and stared at the book before her. After a few minutes, she picked up her phone off the desk and typed out a message to Ben.

_Is it weird to say that I miss you?_

Her phone buzzed a few minutes later with a message back.

_No because I miss you too. 'Bout to record now, so don't text for a while._

Rey smiled and set the phone down, thinking once again about how much fun she was having with Ben in her life.

*****

"I am so sick of this case," Finn said. "I mean seriously, this is driving me absolutely insane."

"Sorry," Rey said, opening one of the cartons of Chinese food and peering inside. "This is not what I ordered. Must be Rose's."

"Usually dealing with estates is one of the easiest things I have to do," Finn said, taking the container from Rey's hands and walking over to Rose's desk and setting it down. "But when you are dealing with fifteen people challenging the person's estate over the same item that was left to an entirely different person, it's incredibly frustrating and makes me want to scream."

"Fifteen people challenging the estate? That's absurd."

"You have no idea," Finn said, walking back over to the desk as Rey pulled another carton out of the bag. "And it's not like this is the only case I have at the moment either."

Finn sat down at his desk and had just started to open the container his food was in when the door to his office opened and someone Rey had never seen before walked in.

"Finn," the woman said. "I know I'm late with the rent, but..."

"Phasma," Finn interrupted, "I would like you to meet Rey, Jaxon's great-niece, and your new landlord. Rey, this is Phasma. She and her family rent the building next door. They live upstairs and run the laundromat that is downstairs."

Phasma stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Rey for a moment, then quickly made her way over to where Rey was leaning against the edge of Finn's desk and dropped to her knees in front of her. "Please, I'll do anything you want me to do. Just don't kick us out of the building. I don't have the rent money right now but that's only because we finally convinced my sister to enter the rehabilitation place and that was the only money we had to pay for it. Please. I swear, I'll do anything you want."

Rey stared at Phasma for a moment before looking back at Finn, who quickly turned his head away from Rey's gaze. Sighing, Rey set her food down on the desk and reached out her hand to Phasma. "You can start by getting up."

Phasma took Rey's hand and let her help herself up, then shoved her hands in her pockets and stared down at the floor. "Please don't kick us out. Please."

"No one is kicking you out," Rey stressed, putting a hand on Phasma's shoulder and smiling when Phasma looked up at her. "I have absolutely no idea what's going on, but from what you just said there, I don't see any reason to kick you out."

Phasma gave a sigh of relief and collapsed down in the chair next to her. "Thank God. Mama was so worried. Finn is not so forgiving."

"You haven't paid your rent on time in six months," Finn declared. "You are currently four and a half months behind. In my opinion, she shouldn't be so forgiving."

"I told you on many occasions, I had the money but my sister, she stole it for the drugs," Phasma said, turning her attention back to Rey. "My sister, she is a heroin addict. She would do anything to get her next hit, including stealing the money for rent payments."

"But you've convinced her to go into rehab?" Rey asked gently. "I think that's what I heard you say."

"Yes, finally. Big intervention last night. All my relatives were there," Phasma murmured. "But the rehabilitation place, they wanted the first payment right away. We combined all the money we had and now only have twenty-three dollars left for the month."

Rey reached for her purse and pulled out her wallet, opening it up and pulling out the ten one-hundred-dollar bills she had gotten from the bank that morning. "Here. You can't live off twenty-three dollars for the month."

Finn gasped as Rey handed the money over, and Phasma fell to her knees in front of Rey again. "Please, tell me what I can do for you. I will do absolutely anything."

"What did you used to do for Jaxon?" Rey asked.

"Jaxon was an old man, very frail. Could not keep the lawn mowed at his house, so I did that for him."

"Then you can do that for me. I am living in Jaxon's house, and I wouldn't have a clue how to mow the lawn if I tried."

Phasma jumped up and hugged Rey tightly, then backed away and stuffed the money in her pocket. "Thank you, Rey. I will make sure the lawn is mowed today."

Finn stared at her as Phasma ran out of the office, shaking his head once Rey turned back towards him. "You're an idiot."

"You're too hard on her," Rey countered back. "Haven't you ever heard of helping out someone in need?"

"That family isn't in need, they're just stupid," Finn mumbled, sticking his fork into his container of food. "The parents and sister are useless, and the sooner Phasma realizes that the sooner she may be able to make a viable business out of the laundromat. Instead, she spends all her time cleaning up their messes, which prevents her from running the laundromat properly. It's a filthy, disgusting place over there where I am certain more than a few drug deals go down every hour."

"The more you talk, the more you sound like a heartless lawyer," Rey pointed out. "I was wondering when that was going to happen."

"Sorry, but it's how I feel about the place," Finn confessed. "You'd be much better off evicting them and getting a reputable business in there."

"Well, I'm not doing that," Rey said, pushing away from Finn's desk and reaching for her drink. "I think I'll go eat with Jess because we are obviously not going to see eye to eye about this."

"Yeah, you do that. She sympathizes with them something awful."

"Good for her," Rey said, stopping at the office door and turning back to Finn. "Oh, and Finn?"

"What?"

"I'm not making them pay the rent they haven't paid."

Finn nearly dropped his container of food. "Have you lost your mind?"

"No," Rey said, shaking her head. "It just so happens that I can afford to let them do that."

Finn groaned as Rey turned to walk out of the office. "Anakin is not going to like this."

"I'm helping out someone who clearly needs it. What problem is Anakin going to have with that?"

"She doesn't need it!"

"Yes, she does!"

"She's playing you like a fool! Remember that!"

"Talk to you later, Finn!"

*****

Rey smiled as Ben settled along her side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer. "Wow."

Ben laughed and shifted around so he could press a kiss to Rey's shoulder. "You didn't have a ton of sex before meeting me, did you?"

"It's that obvious?"

"Just a little," Ben said, resting his on Rey's shoulder so he could look up at her. "I like it. It's sexy."

Rey laughed. "I don't see how my inexperience could be sexy."

"You're so eager," Ben murmured, kissing Rey's shoulder again. "My last relationship, it was great at first, but then sex became like a chore for her, and that wasn't any fun for me. But you, if I want to skip dinner and have sex, you're up for it. If I want to tie you to my headboard and take my time with you..."

"I'm definitely up for that," Rey interrupted, causing Ben to smile. "Though I don't think your neighbors would appreciate it if we did that again."

"Fuck my neighbors. They never care about what I'm doing when they decide to have sex," Ben said with a smile. "Anyway, my point is that your eagerness to go along with my ideas is sexy. And I like being able to look at you and think, damn she's sexy. I lost that in my last relationship."

Rey was silent for a moment, then sucked in a deep breath. "You want to tell me about her?"

"Not particularly," Ben uttered. "But I probably should."

"I don't want to push you," Rey stressed. "Tell me whenever you're ready."

Ben shifted around until he was looking down at Rey's face, then he slowly lowered himself to kiss her. "Does your lack of experience prevent you from feeling how special this is?" he asked timidly. 

"No," Rey mumbled, pulling Ben into another kiss. "Are you kidding me? This is the best relationship I've ever been in, and we haven't even been on a date. We've only known each other for a few weeks."

Ben settled himself against Rey's body and buried his face in Rey's neck, sighing happily when Rey's arms wrapped around him. "I could stay like this for a long, long time, but we totally need to rectify that not having been on a date situation."

"Later," Rey said sleepily. "I don't want to move."

"So what is it that you do, hm? I've told you but you haven't told me."

Rey let her eyes drift closed and thought about how to phrase things for a moment. "I inherited a business from a dead distant relative and am currently learning how to run it. It's really rather boring, to be honest."

"I see. I'm currently learning something too. I'm studying writing."

"Why are you studying writing?"

"Because I really would rather be a writer on _First Order_ than a voice actor," Ben mumbled. "Of course the main goal is to develop my own series. I've got several ideas and I know that if I wanted to, I could get someone to listen, but I'm not ready for that yet."

"Animated or live action?"

"Either, really. I've got an affinity for animation, but it doesn't really matter to me. The idea is more about tolerance than anything else."

Rey shifted her head slightly. "Tolerance?"

"I want to create a series where the two main characters are not what you'd expect. I got the idea when I was with the last woman, truthfully. We were the exact opposite of the stereotypical characters you see on television, and...well, you get the idea." 

"I think it sounds fascinating," Rey said after a moment. "Would one of the main characters be based upon this woman?"

"Well, she'd play a role for a while, but she'd eventually leave, just like..." Ben cut himself off and said a quick curse under his breath. "Alright her...her name is Emma, but it would be totally changed for the show. She is a lot older than me, married with three kids, and the minute I met her, I just fell head over heels so fast that I think I was in love before I could blink. And all credit to her, she gave it a real try for a while. Left the husband, started the divorce proceedings, moved in with me, the whole deal. But the feelings didn't last. Devastated me when she left to go back to him, but even as she was walking out the door, I knew it was the right thing. She wasn't the one to make forever plans with."

"Forever plans?"

Ben laughed slightly. "My parents got divorced when I was a kid and part of their explanation was that they couldn't agree upon the forever plans. It's sort of stayed with me."

"I can see how that would," Rey said. "So how long after Emma do I come in?"

"About a year. But I've been thinking that on the show, you'd come in mid-season of the following season. The big breakup would be a season finale, of course."

"Of course."

"Sorry that just all came out like that," Ben apologized. "I just really, really hate talking about her. I feel so stupid for making such a huge mistake."

"Hey, I understand," Rey started, glancing back at the wall behind them when the obvious sounds of sex from the apartment next door began to drift through the wall. "You weren't kidding about that, were you?"

"Nope," Ben said, propping himself up so he could look down at Rey. "You want to drown them out? Don't tell anyone, but the woman next door confessed once that she loves it when they're having sex the same time I'm having sex. Told me it makes it ten times better for her, and it's been a long time since I've been able to help her out."

Rey laughed as she nodded. "Seriously?"

"She makes me cookies. The least I can do is help her have an orgasm every once and a while," Ben said, climbing off the bed and walking towards the bathroom. "Need more condoms. I'll be right back."


	5. Chapter 5

Rey was sitting in her office at the bowling alley and flipping through the book of bowling attire, still trying to figure out which pair of shoes to order for her parents when the door opened and Jessika's head poked through the crack.

"Um, DJ is here to see you," she said nervously.

Rey sighed heavily and shut the book. "Let him in."

Jessika disappeared and a moment later the door was fully open and the arrogant as fuck lawyer was strolling into her office again, dressed in yet another impeccable suit. "Rey, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"The answer is still no," Rey said before DJ even sat down. "So there's no need to waste my time."

"Oh, but I'm not here to waste your time," DJ said, sitting down across from the desk and reaching into his briefcase. 

"I somehow doubt that."

"This is a proposal from my client," he said, handing a stack of papers over to Rey. "I think you'll find his plans to not only be exemplary but also well worth your while."

Rey glanced down at the cover page, saw the words 'business plaza' written there, and tossed it down on the table. "Still no."

"You haven't even looked at it."

"I don't need to."

DJ sighed irritably. "You really have no understanding of what the situation is, do you?"

"No, I understand my situation perfectly," Rey said, leaning back in her chair. "My business is located in a spot where your client wants to build a skyscraper, so he's hired you to bully me and the rest of the block into giving in. But the rest of the block and I are not giving in, so you're becoming more desperate because your client is getting angry with the fact that you haven't accomplished anything. Sound about right?"

"What is the matter with all of you people, hm?" DJ sneered. "My client is prepared to make sure you never have to work a day in your life again. Why won't you just take him up on it?"

"First, some people happen to like to work," Rey pointed out. "Second, you might be making sure those of us who own the buildings never have to work again, but we have employees that we care about who certainly aren't getting that sort of promise from you. Every time you come anywhere near here, my entire staff gets jittery and starts wondering if they need to start looking for new jobs, and you know how difficult it is to find a job right now, DJ. And third, I am not looking for a large amount of money from your client. I'm looking for something that no matter what you say, he cannot offer me."

"And what is that?" DJ inquired.

"Cartoons," Rey said with a smile. "Cartoons and forever plans. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Get out of my bowling alley."

"Cartoons and what?" DJ laughed. "You are just as delusional as your dead uncle, you know that?"

"Then it must run in the family," Rey said, opening the book back up. "I was serious about you getting out, you know."

"Fine," DJ said, standing up. "But this is not over, Rey. Not even close."

"Keep telling yourself that," Rey said, not bothering to look up. "Good day, DJ."

DJ huffed and made his way out of the office, only for Jessika to come in, walk around the desk, and bend down to give Rey a hug.

"Oh my God, that was brilliant. That was absolutely brilliant. Sorry, I was listening in, but that was just so brilliant."

"Thanks, Jess," Rey said, smiling at her. "Talk to me about something of importance please."

"Carpeting has been ordered as well as the new strobe lights and sound equipment that you negotiated with Lando about. He's super happy, by the way, which is weird because he's normally not happy about losing parts of his cosmicness." Jessika walked back around the desk and sat down in the chair DJ had vacated. "The new uniforms came in today, and I took great pleasure in telling Fossil she had to put hers on immediately."

Rey glanced up at her. "Do I even want to know what she showed up in this morning?"

"I'm pretty sure that it was a piece of lingerie with a suit coat over it," Jessika said, shaking her head. "Honestly, the way she's dressed sometimes makes me wonder if she works nights as a call girl."

"Let's not think about that, shall we?" Rey said, changing the subject. "Leagues start next week?"

"Yes, and Luke and Mara will be in here most of the week getting all the paperwork in order."

"Paperwork?"

"Yeah, you've got to file all this paperwork with the national association in order for the leagues to be accredited or something like that. I don't know really. I let them take care of all of that. They did want me to ask you if you were willing to keep up something that Jaxon used to do which was to pay for the senior bowlers' membership cards. A lot of them are on fixed incomes and Jaxon always used to pay for the membership cards, which takes quite a bit of money off the total they have to spend to be in the league."

"Of course," Rey said, turning a page in the book and smiling. "Oh, these are perfect."

"Did you finally pick some for your parents?" Jessika asked, leaning forward to see the page. 

"These ones," Rey murmured, pointing at where they were on the page. "Covered in dollar signs."

"Ah, nice choice, boss," Jessika said. "Want me to get those ordered for you?"

Rey picked up the book and handed it to her. "Yes, please. Have them sent here and I'll take care of sending them home."

"Okay," Jessika said, standing up. "Anything else?"

"Mace returned my call yet?"

"Nope. I'll corner him next time he comes in here and make him talk to you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, boss."

*****

"It is so nice to finally meet you," Mara said, holding out her hand for Rey to shake. "I've heard such wonderful things about you from Lando."

Rey smiled and shook her hand. "I wasn't aware that you knew Lando."

"Oh, we know Lando," Luke said, smiling at Rey. "We all went to college together. Well, Leia knows him better than we do, but we're all quite friendly."

"I see," Rey said, leaning back against the counter. "Leia is?"

"My twin sister," Luke said. "You'll see her in here eventually for the mixed league. We all bowl on a team together with Old Ben."

Luke turned to look behind him when someone called out his name. "Excuse me. Wedge always has trouble getting the names put into the computer on that lane."

Rey nodded as Luke walked away. "I don't blame that guy. I wouldn't know how to do that if I tried. Those things are complicated."

"They're only complicated if you don't know the steps," Mara said. "I'd be glad to show you sometime."

"Jess has already tried to do that," Rey said. "But I suppose that a second person attempting to teach me might be more effective. Don't tell her that though."

"Jess is wonderful, but she'll be the first to admit that she's much better at the computer system at the counter than she is at the actual lanes." Mara laughed. "So Padmé was telling me that you know her and Anakin."

"Yes," Rey said. "Anakin's been great at helping with things. I certainly don't know what to do with all the financial stuff that comes with this place."

"Anakin is one of the best in the city at his job," Mara said. "And he'll do anything for a friend of Old Ben's."

"Maybe someone can finally introduce me to this Old Ben then," Rey said with a smile. "I still haven't met him."

"Well that has to be corrected," Mara said. "Old Ben is a sweetheart. You'll love him instantly. I know he already loves you. I heard you've turned down DJ twice already."

Rey nodded. "I can't let Jaxon's dream die with him."

"I think that's very honorable of you," Mara said as Luke walked back up to them. "Luke, we have to make sure to introduce Rey to Old Ben tonight. She hasn't met him yet."

"You haven't? Well, that has to be corrected immediately," Luke said, smiling at her. "I know for a fact that Old Ben loves you though."

"That's what I was just telling her," Mara said. "I'm pretty sure Qui-Gon does too."

"Qui-Gon?"

"Qui-Gon Jinn. Owns the bakery on the corner. DJ is after them too. He and Old Ben are great friends. In fact, Qui-Gon should be in here tonight too. We'll get you introduced to them both."

"That sounds great," Rey said, noticing Finn was standing outside of his office and waving her down. "Excuse me, but it looks like Finn needs to talk to me."

"Of course," Luke said, and Rey walked away, heading in Finn's direction. 

"What do you need, Finn?"

"Inside," Finn said, leading her into the office.

"What's up?" Rey asked once they were inside.

"Finn has come up with a plan to keep his parents happy," Rose announced, annoyance filling her voice as she stalked back to her desk and collapsed into her chair. "I loathe it, for the record."

"Are you still not telling them about Rose?"

"You know why I can't."

Rey frowned and looked over at Finn. "Well, let's hear it then. If nothing else, it could be a starting point."

Finn stood in front of Rey and reached into his pocket, then dropped down onto one knee. "Rey," he said softly, opening up the small velvet box in his hand and holding it out to her. "Will you marry me?"

Rey looked from Finn to Rose to the box which had a beautiful diamond and sapphire ring inside of it before sighing heavily. "Oh, Finn."

"I'm serious," Finn said.

"Finn..."

"It would be perfect."

"Honey, I can't marry you."

"Can't you see it, Rey? It's foolproof."

"Foolproof? Finn, think about this for a moment."

"You can date whoever. I keep seeing Rose. But our parents and families think that we're happily engaged here in San Francisco. That way, we'd never have to tell them the truth. It's foolproof."

Rey paused with a word half-formed on her lips, thinking about what Finn had just said before turning to look at Rose. "Well, it's not the most idiotic plan he's ever come up with."

"You have got to be motherfucking kidding me!" Rose exclaimed, glaring at them. "I told you that I'd give you all the time in the world to tell your parents the truth, but the deal was that you told your parents the truth. Not pretended to marry your best friend to avoid ever having to tell them the truth."

"Oh what, just like you've told your parents about me?" Finn threw back at her. "Please, you do not get to throw that argument at me."

"I told you why I haven't told my parents," Rose said through clenched teeth. "I am waiting until you have told yours."

"But Rose, see, with my foolproof plan, neither of us has to tell our parents anything!"

"Oh yes, your foolproof plan," Rose sneered. "And what are you going to do when your parents expect the engagement to end and the wedding and marriage to happen?"

"We'll come to that hurdle when we get to it," Finn said plainly. "But I'm sure we could work around it. Tell them we got married at city hall out here or something."

Rose let out a disgruntled noise and Rey held up a hand in her direction. "Rose, calm down. Finn, I don't know about this. I mean, this seems really very drastic when all you need to do is make a phone call and say, hey, I have a girlfriend and she's really fantastic and I'd like you to meet her."

"And what is so horrifyingly awful about your parents finding out about me, huh?" Rose snapped, the hurt that she'd obviously been suppressing for a while now surfacing in her voice.

"Nothing, babe," Finn said, standing up and walking across the room. "I want to tell them so much. But I know how they'd react, and I'm not ready to give up my family."

"Well, maybe it's time for you to decide whether they're really family if they can't be accepting of yourself and your life choices," Rose said, reaching for her purse. "I'm taking the rest of the day off. I'll see you at home later."

"Rose, come on, let's discuss this."

"As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to discuss," Rose murmured, walking towards the door. "I'm not going to sit here and watch as you pretend you're going to marry someone else."

"Okay," Rey said, making her way towards the door. "I think what really needs to happen is for you to stay here, Rose, and for the two of you to talk about things. So I'm going to be the one who goes, and I'm going to put the Closed sign on the door, and then you two can just hash this out, okay? Good."

Rey quickly walked out of the door and put the Closed sign on it, then took a few deep breaths before moving on with her day.

*****

"So his solution is to pretend to marry you?" Ben asked, tilting his head so he could look at Rey.

"That's the one Finn came up with," Rey said, running her hands over her face. "I don't know what to do with him sometimes."

Ben wrapped the bedsheet around him and flipped onto his side, settling his head on the pillow. "You want to know what I think about it?"

"Well, if he talks me into going along with it, it would affect you, so yeah," Rey murmured, tangling her fingers in Ben's hair. "But it would take a lot of convincing from him to get me to do it."

"I..." Ben started and then trailed off, sucking in a few deep breaths. "I understand completely, to be perfectly honest. And I say that as a man who hasn't spoken to his family since a major disagreement about his life choices."

Rey softly stroked Ben's head with her fingers, smiling when she drew a soft moan out of him. "I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"I told myself we all just needed some time, so I gave them time," Ben said quietly. "Apparently that time is ten years and counting because I haven't heard a thing. Of course, I haven't exactly gone and forced the issue, but I thought it was best for them to make the first move, you know?"

"Did you think it would end up like this when you had the disagreement?"

"Not at all," Ben mumbled, being lulled into a sleepy state by Rey's fingers. "Education is highly regarded in my family, and my grandfather has this business, and the whole family either works or has worked there, and I just...I didn't want to. I thought I'd made that clear but I guess not. Maybe I just blindsided them after graduation when I said I'd gone to this audition and they'd offered me the part of Kylo and I'd accepted it. I don't know. I just know what it's like to be cut off from your family and I don't want Finn to have to go through that. But pretending like you're marrying each other is a bit extreme, don't you think?

"I think he's trying to protect me too," Rey said. "My parents have always wanted me to marry him. I think that's about the only thing that could redeem me in their eyes."

"So what would happen if his parents found out about Rose?"

"That's the thing. I don't think it would be that bad," Rey said. "Finn's just got it in his head that his parents are expecting him to bring home a very pretty, very successful, highly educated African-American girl, and since Rose has pretty and successful but not the other two parts, I think he thinks that they'll hate her. Which they might. He certainly knows his parents better than me. I just can't imagine them doing that though."

"You have a great love for him," Ben pointed out. "Even if it is in a completely platonic way."

"Finn's been the only person who has ever truly believed in me. I mean, my parents think I'm one of the worst things that have ever happened to them. I can't help but love him for that."

Ben shifted around until he was sitting up. "Look, I don't think that we have known each other long enough for me to be able to tell you what to do or not to do, so if you feel like going along with Finn's plan is the only way to keep Finn from being disowned or whatever, then just tell me what to do to help you with it and I will."

"Really?" Rey asked softly.

"Really," Ben said, rolling Rey onto her back and straddling her hips. "I just wonder if maybe he is underestimating his family. And I also wonder why you care about your family if they treat you so poorly."

"Because they're my family," Rey muttered, leaning up to kiss Ben softly. "The only one I'm ever going to have."

"Now see, that's not true," Ben pointed out. "Family doesn't have to be the people we're related to by blood. A family is what we make of it. I have apparently lost my blood family, so I'm creating a new family of my own with my friends and maybe someday with a wife and children."

"You think he should tell his family, don't you?"

"I think he should do what he feels comfortable doing," Ben clarified. "But if I were Finn, and I told them and they reacted badly, I'd say fuck them and tell them to get the fuck out of my life."

Rey reached towards the bedside table when she heard her phone beep, clicking through to see the message Finn had left her. "Oh, fantastic."

"What?"

"Finn's just been on the phone to his parents to tell them about Rose," Rey said, smiling as she tossed the phone to the bed. "I knew Rose hated my plan but I didn't think that she could actually convince Finn to do that."

"So I guess the plan is off then."

"I guess so."

Ben sat back and stared at Rey for a moment before reaching for where the phone had landed on the bed. "What would it feel like if you called your parents right now, with me here for support, and told them what you really think of them?"

Rey swallowed hard. "Terrifying yet somehow gratifying at the same time."

"Given what you've told me about them, I think you should do it." Ben pressed the phone into her hand. "But it's up to you."

Rey's eyes flicked back and forth between the phone and Ben before she swallowed hard again. She took the phone and clicked through some screens, pressed the button to connect the call, and brought the phone up to her ear. 

Ben felt Rey's free arm wrap around his waist, pulling him closer, so he settled against her and listened to the conversation, unsure of how it was going until he heard Rey choke up. Ben wriggled his arms around Rey's waist and held her close, pressing soft kisses to her neck as he felt her begin to cry. The conversation lasted for several minutes, Rey's tone going from sad to heated back to sad, then the phone was being dropped to the bed and Rey was clinging to him as though her life depended upon it.

"It's okay," Ben whispered over and over, rolling onto his back and taking Rey with him, letting his hands run down her sides. "I promise you, it's going to be okay."

Rey cried for what felt like hours, but she eventually got her emotions under control.

"You alright?" Ben asked softly.

"No," she said honestly. "But you can help make me better."

"How so?"

"Take my mind off things," Rey said, giving Ben a look that she hoped conveyed exactly what she was trying to say.

Ben stared at her for a moment, knowing that it was probably better to talk about things, but ultimately finding himself unable to ignore Rey's silent plea. "Deal."


	6. Chapter 6

Finn walked into Rey's office to find her stuffing a pair of bowling shoes with money. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Sending a final fuck you to my parents," Rey said, reaching for the stack of cash that was sitting on the desk. "A pair of bowling shoes covered in dollar signs stuffed with money."

"And how is that a fuck you?" Finn asked, moving to sit down across from her.

"It's fake money," Rey said, looking up at him with a smile. "I bought it at a party supply store this morning."

Finn laughed and reached out to pluck one off the stack, examining it. "That's some good looking fake money."

"That's what I thought," Rey said, going back to what she was doing. "So what's up?"

"I came to apologize."

"For what?"

"For asking you to marry me."

Rey stopped what she was doing and leaned back in her chair. "It's okay, Finn."

"No, it's really not," Finn said. "I was thinking of no one but myself. I wasn't thinking of you and I definitely wasn't thinking of Rose. I just was trying to save my own ass."

"From something that didn't end up happening," Rey pointed out. "Your parents were thrilled to hear that you finally had a girlfriend."

"I know, I know," Finn said, leaning forward and running his hands over his face. "Don't make me feel like more of an idiot."

"Well, we established in kindergarten that you were an idiot so I don't know why this is anything new."

Finn chuckled. "I think your mother is still angry with me for ruining your dress with that paint."

"I'm sure she's been told all about your girlfriend by now," Rey said. "And I'm sure she hates you even more for that."

"Oh, I'm sure." Finn studied her for a moment. "Are you really sure that cutting all ties with them was a good idea?"

"Yes," Rey said. "And I don't suspect that they are going to feel any different about me any time soon either."

"I still can't believe that you did it," Finn said, shaking his head. "I mean, I'm proud of you, but I can't believe you actually did it."

"Yeah, well, I meant it when I said I wanted to leave my old life behind. They are part of my old life. I am determined to find some happiness and I am not going to do that with them in my life."

"Good," Finn said, smiling. "I really hope you do find that happiness."

"I think I'm on the right path," Rey said, looking up and smiling at him. "I'm glad you told your parents about Rose. She deserves that. She's really great, Finn."

"I know she deserves it. She's deserved it for a long time."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Almost four years."

Rey gave Finn a disbelieving look. "You had a girlfriend for almost four years and you didn't tell me?"

"I told you, I'm an idiot."

"I'm not going to disagree with that," Rey said. "Rose must be a saint."

"I think you're right about that."

Rey shook her head and reached for more fake money. "You better marry that girl someday."

"I'm thinking about it."

"Better her than me."

Finn laughed. "I agree."

Rey laughed. "You're the brother I never had, Finn. You would have been a terrible husband."

"And you're the sister I never had, Rey. You would have been a terrible wife," Finn said, standing up and walking around the desk, stooping to hug her. "Love you."

"Love you too. Now get back to work. I know you have much more important things to be doing than sitting in here and talking to me."

"Yes, yes, always the taskmaster."

"That's because you're a dawdler. You spend more time doing nothing than you do actually doing something. I'm surprised Rose hasn't come looking for you to get you back to work."

"I'm going, I'm going."

*****

Rey opened her front door to find Snap and Poe standing there, cups of coffee in their hands and bright smiles on their faces. "It's seven o'clock in the morning."

"Then rise and shine sunshine," Snap said, making his way past Rey and into the house. "We've got a big day ahead of us."

Rey glanced in Snap's direction before leaning against the door and staring at Poe. "What is he talking about?"

"He woke up at four o'clock this morning and realized we hadn't taken you out during the day yet. So he woke me up and asked if I thought you'd been out on your own, and I said probably not, and he declared that we needed to rectify that. So he's planned a whole day for us, starting with The Castro," Poe said, stepping into the house and handing Rey one of the cups of coffee. "White Chocolate Mocha. Hope you like it."

Rey closed the door as Poe followed Snap into the kitchen, leaning up against it and bringing the coffee cup to her lips. She stared at the kitchen doorway for a moment before turning towards the stairs and climbing up them. "I'll be right back!"

"Okay," came the chorus from the kitchen.

Rey headed down the hallway towards the bedroom she was staying in, quietly opening the door and letting herself inside only to find Ben sitting up in bed stretching. "Good morning."

Ben smiled as he dropped his arms down to the mattress. "Good morning. Who was at the door?"

"My neighbors from across the street who apparently have a whole day planned for me, starting with The Castro," Rey said, sitting on the bed next to Ben. "They're in my kitchen. I have no idea what's going on, really."

"Do you even know what The Castro is?" Ben asked, taking the cup of coffee from Rey's hands and taking a sip from it.

"Nope."

"The gay district," Ben murmured, taking another sip of the coffee. "This is good."

"Have it then, it's too sweet for me," Rey said, leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes. "The gay district, hm? That will probably be fun, but not at seven o'clock in the morning."

Ben pressed a kiss to Rey's shoulder and then settled his head along it. "The gym I go to is in The Castro. There's a bunch of landmarks there, tons of shops and stuff. And while I do not doubt that this is their plan, make sure they take you to Harvey's."

"What's Harvey's?"

"Restaurant and bar, but it's a hell of a lot more than that, honestly. Tons of history but I'll let your friends get into that. Just know it's named after Harvey Milk."

"Who is Harvey Milk?"

Ben pulled away and stared at Rey for a moment, then took another sip of the coffee before putting his head back on her shoulder. "Make them take you to the GLBT History Museum. You can't be a San Franciscan and not know who Harvey Milk is. For that matter, some of my gay friends argue you can't be an American without knowing who Harvey Milk is."

"Then I'll learn who Harvey Milk is," Rey muttered. "But why are you talking like I'm going to go with them? I have plans to spend all day in bed with you."

"We can do that tomorrow. If you don't know who Harvey Milk is, you definitely need to go to The Castro."

"I have to work tomorrow or Finn will come here and kill me." Rey opened her eyes and shifted so she could look at Ben. "And seriously? I finally convince you to come back to my place and now you want me to go off with my friends instead of staying here with you?"

Ben reached out and set the cup of coffee on the bedside table, then shifted so he was straddling Rey's thighs. "While I have no problem spending every free minute I have with you, it probably is a good thing for us to not see each other twenty-four seven."

Rey slid her arms around Ben's waist and pulled him closer. "I know you're right, but no."

Ben laughed and kissed Rey deeply. "Rey."

"Ben."

"Hey Rey," came Poe's voice, knocking at the same time as the bedroom door swung open, and they both cursed and dove for the bedsheet. 

"Poe!" Rey yelled, pulling the bedsheet up to cover Ben. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Poe said, shutting the door immediately. "You didn't say anyone was here!"

"Wait, someone's here?" came Snap's voice and then the door was opening again, Snap strolling into the room. "Oh hey, it's the guy she picked up when we went out that night! Rey! You never told us you were still seeing him!"

Rey started banging her head against the wall as Ben began to laugh. "God, could this get any worse?"

"It's funny," Ben laughed. 

"It's not funny!"

They both looked over when the bed dipped and saw Snap sitting down and holding out his hand in Ben's direction. "Hi, I'm Snap."

"Snap!" Rey exclaimed, and Poe walked into the room and pulled Snap up off the bed.

"Snap, honestly," Poe admonished, pushing him towards the door. "At least let them get dressed first."

"We'll make breakfast!" Snap called out as Poe pushed him out into the hallway. "And then the four of us can hit up The Castro!"

Poe poked his head back around the door and gave Rey an apologetic look. "Sorry. Really, I'm sorry."

"Get out!" Rey yelled, and Poe quickly shut the door. "Lousy motherfuckers."

Ben collapsed against Rey in a fit of giggles. "So those are the friends, huh?"

"It's not funny," Rey whined, poking Ben in the side.

"Hey," Ben said, looking up at her, "my friends would have been the same way if they had walked in on us. Well, except for my best friend. She would have screamed and run out of the apartment."

"Really?"

"Yes. They're all nosy bastards," Ben said, kissing Rey softly. "So I guess I'm going to The Castro with you."

"I guess you are."

"Are you okay with me hanging out with your friends?" Ben asked quietly. "'Cause if you're not, I'll come up with an excuse and bail."

"All they're going to want to talk about is whatever this is between us."

"Is that a problem?"

"Somewhat."

"How so?"

"What is this between us? All we do is have sex and watch animated series. Not that I'm complaining about that. I just don't know how to label this."

"Can't we just leave things the way they are instead of having to label them?"

"What's wrong with labeling it?"

"It's too soon," Ben sighed heavily and slid off of Rey, wrapping the bedsheet around himself as he stood up. "I'm going to get dressed, go make my excuses, and go home. You have fun with them and I'll call you later, okay?"

"Ben..." Rey started, but Ben picked up his clothes and walked out of the room before she could say anything else.

Rey sat there, staring at the door and hoping that Ben would come back in and talk to her. But when several minutes had passed and she heard the car start in the driveway, she scrambled over to the window just in time to see Ben pulling away from the house. She slid down to the floor and lost herself in her thoughts, not even realizing that Snap and Poe had come into the room until Snap touched her on the arm and jolted her back to reality. 

"Huh? What?"

"I said, are you okay, sweetie? You look lost," Snap said soothingly. 

"I don't know what just happened," Rey murmured, shaking her head lightly. "But I don't think it was good."

*****

Rey leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily, staring at the list in front of her. She'd just spent nearly four hours following Mace Windu around the bowling alley, listening to his opinions and suggestions on everything from lane conditions to what food should be served in the snack bar beside pizza. And while there were certain things that Rey was not going to do, such as making it legal to punch someone on the opposing team should they make a game-winning strike during league play, she could understand exactly why most of the suggestions had been made and agreed that the improvements were necessary.

Except she had no idea how to make _this_ many improvements, nor how much they were going to cost.

"So, how did it go with Mace?" Jessika asked from the doorway, prompting Rey to look up from her list. 

"Do you have any idea who it is that actually builds bowling alleys?" Rey asked, half sarcastically. "'Cause we need to hire one. Apparently, we need to rebuild the entire place."

"Rey, you don't have to listen to everything Mace has to say," Jessika said, walking into the office and sitting down in the chair. "Quite honestly, I think the place would look better just with a thorough cleaning and a fresh coat of paint."

"Don't worry, I'm not agreeing to put his catchphrase in lights above his favorite lane and employing someone to light it up every time he says it." Rey sighed and tossed the list down onto the desk. "It's just...there's a good reason for almost everything on this list to be done. And I want this place to be a place people enjoy coming to, Jess. I don't want them to come here and hate it."

"Oh sure, people hate it," Jessika said, rolling her eyes. "That's exactly why there are at least four bowlers on every single lane right now."

"You know what I mean," Rey sighed, running her hands over her face. "This is going to cost so much money."

"So do it a little bit at a time," Jessika suggested. "But can we start with the thorough cleaning? 'Cause I really think that would help."

"Sure," Rey said with very little enthusiasm. "Take care of that please."

"I can do that," Jessika said, standing up. "I'm supposed to tell you that Finn wants to talk to you about why you're depressed without telling you that that's what he wants to talk to you about, but I figure if you're depressed then you need some warning before Finn gets a hold of you. He can be vicious when he wants to be."

"You have no idea, Jess," Rey said, pushing her chair back and standing up. "But I'll go talk to him anyway."

They walked out of the office together, Jessika stopping at the counter whereas Rey went past it and walked down to Finn's office. Rose was in the middle of what appeared to be a heated phone call when she walked in, but Finn was sitting quietly at his desk, so she walked over to it and pulled up a chair. "You wanted to see me?"

"Rose and I are attending a music festival in Sacramento this weekend," Finn said without looking up from the papers he was reading. "I was wondering if you would like to go."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I have no idea what kind of music this would be, but you said festival and I'm not up for large crowds of people right now."

"It's folk music, Rose's favorite. And it'll be a lot of fun so you're going whether you like it or not."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"There's really no point in arguing this with me."

Rey sighed heavily. "Finn."

"Rey."

"Why don't we cut out the fake invitations to an event that you know I'm never going to agree to go to and you just get to the point?"

Finn set his papers down and turned to look at her with concern. "You have barely spoken to anyone in four days, you've turned down our dinner invitations every night without specifying what it is you're doing that evening, you have developed a thing for having a White Chocolate Mocha latte every morning when last I knew you would have hated a coffee drink that sweet, and Snap called me."

Rey sighed. "Then you already know the answer to your unsaid question."

"No, I don't. Snap didn't specify what had happened, just that you and this Ben guy had some sort of disagreement over their presence in your life."

Rey shook her head. "It's got nothing to do with Snap and Poe and what are you doing talking to Snap about me anyway?"

"He hired me to do some legal work for his company," Finn said dismissively. "The important thing is that something is obviously wrong and you clearly need to talk about it. So spill."

"Nothing is wrong," Rey tried, but Finn just shot her the same disbelieving look he'd been giving her since they were children. 

"Rey."

"We had a simple disagreement, which has absolutely nothing to do with anything, really, and we're just giving each other some space this week," she tried again, inwardly sighing with relief when Finn appeared to buy the story. "It's just got me a little down but things will be fine."

"Oh honey," Finn said, reaching out to grab one of Rey's hands. "That first argument in a relationship is always worse than it seems. I spent three days sadder than fuck because I thought I'd never see Rose again, and then she just showed up at my door with a bottle of wine and a couple of DVDs and everything was fine again."

"That's the moment I'm waiting for," Rey said, squeezing Finn's hand. "And I'm sure it will come soon."

"Maybe you should make the first move."

"No," Rey said, shaking her head. "That definitely needs to come from him."

"Honey..."

"He's the one that walked out."

"Then he definitely should make the first move," Finn agreed, letting go of Rey's hand. "Hey, if you two make up before Saturday, you're welcome to come to Sacramento with us for the festival."

Rey shook her head and stood up, putting the chair back in its proper place. "No, Finn. And I mean that."


	7. Chapter 7

Finn called on Saturday morning to presumably ask her to go to the music festival one more time, but Rey didn't answer her phone, too engrossed in the marathon of _The Galactic Empire_ that she had begun the night before. The last thing she wanted to be was depressed at a music festival with a man she knew wouldn't stop pestering her about the reasons why she was.

Ben still hadn't called. Rey couldn't help but blame herself for that, despite being thoroughly confused about what exactly had happened to make Ben leave.

She spent the next several days doing nothing but sleeping, eating, and watching _The Galactic Empire_ , which just served to make Finn angry with her. He left her several voicemails in which Rey could tell he was barely containing his urge to yell, and she supposed that she had Rose to thank for the fact that Finn wasn't knocking down her door every night. 

She avoided Snap and Poe too, not for anything that they had done but just because she didn't want to be around anyone. If there was one thing Rey liked about being depressed, it was being alone whilst doing it. 

Rose had texted her that she was taking Finn away for the weekend, so when her doorbell rang late the following Sunday afternoon, Rey dragged herself away from the sofa to go answer it. She had decided that the next time Snap or Poe reached out, she'd let them take her wherever it was they wanted to in an attempt to start to move on, because clearly, Ben wasn't ever calling again.

Which was why she was surprised when she opened the door to find Ben standing on the front porch, hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans, wearing a gray hoodie that made him look more like a broke college student than a successful voice actor. They stared at each other for a few moments until Rey noticed that Snap and Poe were coming out of their house across the street. "Come in," she said softly. "Quick, before they see you."

Ben stepped into the house and Rey quickly shut the door behind him, peeking through the window to make sure that her friends weren't headed towards her house, sighing in relief when she watched them get in Poe's car and leave. She turned back to Ben and they stared at each other again, but Rey was determined that she wasn't going to be the one to speak first. Ben had sought her out, obviously with something on his mind that he wanted to say, and so he was just going to have to say it.

But when Ben finally spoke, it wasn't anything that Rey had been expecting. "You haven't called, so I thought I'd stop by."

"I haven't called?" Rey asked, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice. "I've called, I've texted, and I've gotten no response. And you were the one who said you were going to call when you left here that morning."

Ben shrugged. "Didn't realize I was committing to that. And I've been busy."

Rey stared at him for a moment. "Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not," Ben said, leaning back against the wall. "So you want to do something tonight?"

"Ben."

"Rey."

"You're lying to me," Rey said again. "Why are you lying to me?"

Ben sighed heavily. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, it matters!" Rey exclaimed. "If it doesn't matter to you, get the fuck out of my house right now."

Ben didn't move, and Rey crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for him to say or do something.

"I'm not good at this shit."

"I don't care. Neither am I."

"Then why do we have to do it?"

"Because the last guy I spent time dating never said a fucking thing to me when shit got fucked up between us, and he ended up leaving me for my cousin of all people, and I don't want that to happen with us."

"I didn't even know you had a cousin."

"Way to miss the fucking point."

"I just..." Ben trailed off and sighed again. "You scare me, alright?"

"Excuse me? I what?"

"You motherfucking scare me," Ben repeated. 

"I'm sorry, but that's going to need some explanation because I don't understand," Rey said, her voice soaked in the hurt she was feeling. "I fucking scare you?"

Ben fell silent, then shook his head and said something under his breath that Rey didn't catch. "I swore after Emma that I wasn't going to fall this hard this fast ever again. That it would be slow and natural and all of that stuff the next time. But this is the next time, and I could so easily fall even harder and even faster than I did with her. So you scare me."

Rey leaned back against the door and took a few deep breaths while she thought of how to respond. "You think I'm not scared?" she eventually said. "I fooled around with exactly three guys before I met you. And the first night I let Snap and Poe take me out, I meet you."

Ben walked over to where Rey was and stood as close as he possibly could without actually touching her. "I panicked the other morning, okay?" 

"Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I can handle all of this if we don't put a label on it, but the moment we label this, it's going to stop being slow and natural and start being a relationship, and it's not that I'm not ready for a relationship, it's that I'm not ready for the label. So can we please just continue as we have been but without the labels?"

Rey looked into Ben's eyes and saw the genuine sincerity in them, so she reached out and slid her arms around Ben's waist, pulling him flush against her. "Don't run away from me again."

"I won't," Ben whispered, pulling his hands from his pockets and bringing them up to caress Rey's face gently. "I promise."

"This is special. We've already agreed upon that," Rey said softly. "I don't want to ruin it any more than I imagine you do. So if I go too fast, tell me."

"I promise," Ben said, leaning their foreheads together. "Can I kiss you now?"

"Yes," Rey whispered, and then Ben's lips were on hers. 

Rey felt her entire body relax into the kiss and soon she was practically limp in Ben's arms. They kissed languidly, neither wanting to push the level of intensity up until finally, they had to break apart to breathe. Ben rested his forehead against Rey's again and a smile crossed his face. 

"I forgot to ask, did I interrupt you doing something?"

Rey laughed slightly. "I was just about to head into season eleven of _The Galactic Empire_. Finn thinks I'm crazy 'cause all I want to do is buy animated series on DVD and watch them over and over."

"He clearly has no clue about the importance of animation," Ben said, pulling back. "Can I watch with you?"

"Sure," Rey said, pushing away from the door and grabbing Ben by the hand. "You want to stay tonight? We could order in pizza or something."

"Pizza, cartoons...all we're missing is beer."

"Have a whole refrigerator full of it."

"Excellent," Ben said as they walked into the living room. "So you've already gone through the first ten seasons?"

"Like a madwoman," Rey said, laughing as she let go of Ben's hand and headed for the DVD player. "I'm a little bit crazy if you haven't figured that out already."

"Aren't we all?" Ben murmured as he collapsed onto the sofa and watched Rey put the DVD in. 

Rey joined him on the sofa moments later and picked up the remote, clicking through the screens until the first episode started playing. "Have you seen this season?"

"Of course. I rewatch the entire _Galactic Empire_ to _First Order_ arc every time we're about to record a new season. Have you?"

"Yep," Rey said, setting the remote to the side and pulling Ben close to her. "So that means we can do more of this."

Ben smiled as Rey's lips pressed onto his, and he pulled Rey from her place on the sofa into his lap. "I like the way you think," he mumbled into the kiss.

*****

Rey had just stepped into the shower when Ben heard the pounding on the front door downstairs. He walked over to the bathroom and stuck his head in through the door. “Rey?”

“What?”

“Someone is pounding on the door downstairs.”

“Oh, can you go answer it? It's probably Finn.”

Ben swallowed hard. “Sure.”

“Thanks! I'll be down in a few minutes.”

Ben ducked back out of the room and took a couple of deep breaths as he went back into the bedroom. He reached for his shirt and pulled it on as he walked out of the room, pausing at the top of the stairs to take another couple of deep breaths. Finn was someone he needed to make a really good impression upon, and he was terribly worried that he wasn't going to.

He jogged down the stairs when the pounding increased, taking another deep breath in front of the door before reaching for the lock and then opening it. The man on the other side looked startled when Ben came into view, and Ben put a smile on his face. “Hello. Rey will be down in a few minutes.”

The man that Ben knew was Finn stood there without saying anything until the woman that Ben hadn't noticed was next to him reached out and smacked him on the shoulder. “Finn, introduce yourself.”

“Are you Ben?” is what came out of Finn's mouth instead, and when Ben nodded, Finn's expression changed into something Ben could not decipher. “You hurt her.”

Ben sighed heavily and nodded. “I know. But Rey and I have moved past that.”

“Well, I haven't!” Finn exclaimed, and the woman smacked him again. 

“I am so sorry for Finn's obnoxious behavior,” the woman said. “I'm Rose, this is Finn, and may we come in?”

“Of course!” Ben exclaimed, pulling open the door and moving to the side. “As I said, Rey will be down in a few minutes.”

“Why isn't she here now?” Finn demanded, and Ben took another deep breath.

“She is currently in the shower,” Ben said, shutting the door behind them. “She asked me to get the door and she will be down in a few minutes.”

Finn glared at Ben for a moment before heading towards the sofa to sit down, and Rose shook her head. “Again, my apologies for his obnoxious behavior. He just lost a big battle in court and he's very upset about it.”

“Thanks for bringing that up, Rose!”

“Well, someone has to explain why you're acting like an asshole,” Rose countered back.

“I am not!”

“The fuck you aren't,” Rose said, turning back to Ben. “How about we go sit down and we can get to know each other?”

“I think that's a great idea,” Ben said, following Rose into the living room and sitting down in one of the chairs. “Rey has mentioned that Finn is a lawyer and I think she said you're his assistant?”

“Assistant and girlfriend, and sometimes I can't tell which is the job I'd like to quit more,” Rose said, making Ben chuckle. “But I'd never quit. I love him too much.”

“You better not quit,” Finn said, turning to her with a smile. “I don't know what I'd do without you.”

“Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere,” Rose said, reaching for Finn's hand. “So, Ben, I'm afraid we don't know much about you. We hadn't really heard of you until your disagreement with Rey.”

“It was a hell of a lot more than a disagreement,” Finn muttered before raising his voice. “Yes, Ben, tell us more about you. I certainly hope that you have a job.”

Rose smacked Finn again. “Stop being such a motherfucking asshole before I strangle you.”

“Fine,” Finn said, taking a deep breath. “So, Ben, what is it that you do?”

Ben just remembered that he had to make a good impression and smiled at them. “I'm a voice actor.”

“That sounds very interesting,” Rose said. “What do you work on?”

“Well, I voice a couple of characters in this TV show and I've actually just been hired to be the voice of the main character in a new animated film that's going to be coming out, so I'm really excited about that.”

“You didn't tell me about that,” came Rey's voice, and everyone turned to see her walking into the room.

“I just got the text from my agent,” Ben said, smiling when Rey came and sat on his lap. “I was going to tell you when you got out of the shower.”

“That's amazing,” Rey said, bending down to kiss him. “I'm so proud of you.”

“Thank you,” Ben murmured, drawing her into another kiss.

“I'm glad that you have a job,” Finn said, and Rose smacked him again.

“I'm fucking serious about you stopping before I strangle you.”

“What?” Finn exclaimed. “I'm happy he has a job.”

Rey just rolled her eyes. “He's not after my money, Finn, so knock it off now.”

Finn muttered something under his breath that Rey didn't catch, so she turned her attention to Rose. “What the fuck is wrong with him today?”

“Remember the Crimson Dawn case? He lost a major battle in it today and so he's acting like an obnoxious asshole,” Rose said, shaking her head when Finn tried to protest. “Honestly, babe, you're going to look back on this first meeting with Ben and be so embarrassed at how you've acted.”

Finn sighed heavily and slumped down further into the sofa. “I just wasn't expecting him to be here, alright? I wanted for our first meeting to be when I was in a much better mood. I'm sorry, Ben.”

“Apology accepted. And really, it's not that big of a deal. I can understand being upset about something like that,” Ben said, sliding an arm around Rey's waist. “How about we all go have dinner together and try to get us all back on the right foot? You can pick the restaurant. My treat.”

“That's a wonderful idea,” Rey said, smiling at him. “Finn, Rose? What do you think?”

“I think that sounds great,” Rose said, and then everyone's eyes turned to Finn.

Finn sat there with his arms crossed over his chest for a moment before nodding. “I think that's a good idea and I promise I will try not to be such a dick in public.”

“You better not be or I seriously will smack you,” Rose said firmly.

Rey just laughed. “I bet he'll be fine if we go to that steakhouse he's been wanting us to go to for weeks.”

Rose grinned. “I think you're right about that. Babe, how does that sound?”

Finn glanced over at Ben for a moment before bringing his eyes to Rey, and Rey just rolled hers. “Finn, he can fucking afford dinner at a place like that, so knock this the fuck off.”

“I just wanted to be sure,” Finn said quietly. “And yes, that's fine for dinner.”

“Then Ben and I will go get ready and then we'll head out,” Rey said, standing up and pulling Ben out of the chair.

As soon as they were upstairs, Rey pulled Ben close and buried her head in his neck. “I am so, so sorry that your first meeting with them had to go like that. I should have known that he was going to lose that battle because Rose told me that there was no way in hell that he'd be able to win it unless a miracle happened, but I got so caught up in what we were doing earlier that I just...”

Ben pulled Rey away from him and brought their lips together in a sweet kiss, smiling at her when they parted. “Rey, it's fine. And dinner will be fine, and then the next time we all see each other, everything will be fine. It's all okay.”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” Ben said, kissing her again. “Now go get ready. I'll grab my stuff and then go back downstairs and talk with them while you finish.”

“Okay.”

*****

Rey pulled the car into a parking space and shut off the engine, then reached for the cup of coffee she'd just gotten and climbed out. She paused once she was outside the car, her eyes focusing on where someone was sitting close to the side entrance of the bowling alley. She glanced around her car for something to protect herself with, sighing when she realized there was nothing. Taking a deep breath, she began to slowly walk towards the building, the person becoming clearer in the darkness with every step she took. By the time she reached the building, she knew exactly who it was that was sitting there, and she let her guard down.

Phasma looked up and Rey could instantly tell she was drunk, and she sighed inwardly as she approached and sat down next to her. "Want some coffee?"

Phasma looked at her through bloodshot eyes for a moment before taking the outstretched cup from Rey's hands. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Rey said, leaning up against the building and sticking her hands in her jacket's pockets. "What are you doing here? It's just past five in the morning."

Phasma sipped the coffee for a few minutes before sighing heavily. "Jaxon, he used to listen to me when I needed to talk. But you do not want to hear about my troubles, I am sure."

"Do you have anyone that you can talk to about them?"

"No."

"Well then, I want to hear about them," Rey said sincerely.

"I am trying as hard as I can, you see," Phasma said. "But everyone around me, they work against me. Every bit of progress I make, they take it two steps backward."

"So why do you surround yourself with them?" Rey asked softly.

"Because they are my family," Phasma said as firmly as she could. "You don't abandon family."

"I wish I knew what you mean," Rey murmured, sighing heavily. "So what's the deal with your family?"

"My sister you know about. The drugs, they have taken a hold of her and while she is finally in a place where she could get some help, we cannot afford to keep her there," Phasma said morosely. "Mama and Papa, they are strong-minded but physically weak. Papa can no longer fix the machines in the laundromat, and Mama hasn't been able to work in a long time. They sit upstairs and smoke the days away. And I have disappointed them greatly."

"How have you disappointed them?"

"Mama always talks about meeting a nice boy, getting married, and giving her grandbabies to fuss over. But I don't want to do that. I have a nice boy, and he is everything I've ever wanted, but I mean very little to him."

"Why do you think you mean very little to him?"

Phasma hung her head and a look of shame crept across her face. "What we have, it is more a business arrangement than anything else."

"Business arrangement?"

"He pays me for sex," Phasma said simply. "He is a very rich and powerful man. So we met one night, and we had sex, and then he proposed this arrangement. And I need the money so we can eat, so I agreed. Except I fell hard for him and he pretends I don't exist except for when the doors to his house are closed and he can tear my clothes off."

"Is he the reason you're drunk right now?"

"Yes. We had a big argument after I found out his plans for something." Phasma sniffled a little and ducked her head away from Rey's view. "He is the man behind the lawyer that keeps coming around. I only just found out. I tried to tell him how amazing this block is, how great the people are, but he didn't listen. I did not know but even now that I do, I cannot let go of him."

Rey watched Phasma for a moment before reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not going to judge you, Phasma."

"No?"

"No."

"You are a lot like your uncle," Phasma said. "He never judged me either."

"People say that to me a lot," Rey pointed out. "I wish I'd had the chance to know him."

"He was a good man," Phasma mumbled. "Your friend Anakin told me what you said about the rent money. I don't know how to repay you for that."

"You don't have to repay me. That's the point. And you can forget about this month's rent too. I don't need it."

Phasma turned and looked at her. "Thank you, Rey."

"I am going to ask you for one thing in return."

"Anything I can give you, I will."

"What's his name?" Rey asked. "I just want to know his name."

Phasma stared at her for a few minutes before taking another sip of the coffee. "Armitage Hux. But please don't tell him I told you that."

"I won't, I promise," Rey said, standing up. "I was going to do some work, but you can come to hang out inside if you want."

"No, I have to go home, face the lecture from Mama about the drinking," Phasma said, stumbling a little as she got up. "Thank you, Rey."

"You're welcome, Phasma," Rey said, pulling her keys from her pocket and walking over to the door. "Anytime you need to talk, you just let me know, okay?"

"Okay."

Rey walked into the building and slowly made her way to her office, staring at her desk for a moment before tossing her keys and jacket down and reaching for the phone. She scrolled through the contacts for the right one then pressed the button to connect the call, and when she got the voicemail for A. Skywalker and Associates, she left a brief message.

"Padmé, this is Rey over at Resistance Lanes. I need to talk to Anakin about paying for a friend's sister's rehabilitation treatment, so if you could call me back and tell me when I could come in, I would really appreciate it. Thanks."


	8. Chapter 8

Ben opened up his door only to be immediately pushed aside as a woman strode straight into the apartment. 

"You are never going to guess who called me tonight!"

Ben sighed and shut the door. "Jess, look..."

"You have to guess."

"Jess..."

"You'll never guess, but I'm making you try anyway."

"Listen, Jess..."

"It's going to blow your mind, Benjamin, it really is."

"Jessika," Ben started again, only to be interrupted by the laugh coming from the hallway that led to his bedroom.

"I thought no one got away with calling you Benjamin."

Ben laughed at the sound of Rey's voice, but he stopped laughing when Jessika turned around to stare at Rey as though she'd walked into a different dimension.

"Uh, Rey, what are you doing at my best friend's apartment?" Jessika asked slowly, looking her up and down. "Wearing nothing but a bedsheet...oh my fucking god, you're the mystery girl?"

"Mystery girl?" Rey asked, giving Ben a curious look.

"I haven't told her anything about you," Ben said, laughing. "Although if I knew you knew her, that would have made things much easier."

"And where the fuck have you been for the last two weeks, by the way? There is a ton of stuff at work that needs your attention. And Finn has been frantic. I can't wait to tell him you've been here fucking my best friend." Jessika squealed before slapping her hand over her mouth. "Fuck, I did not just say that."

"Yes, you did," Ben teased, pushing away from the door and walking towards Jessika, hooking her by the elbow and leading her to the sofa. "Why don't you go put on some more clothes, Rey?"

"Good idea," Rey said, turning to walk back to the bedroom. "Oh, and hi Jess!"

Jessika collapsed onto the sofa and stared at Ben as he sat down next to her. "My boss! Holy shit, Benjamin, I was not expecting that."

"Clearly you weren't expecting anyone, 'cause you didn't call to check," Ben pointed out. "What happened to the customary warning phone call, hm?"

"Sorry, I just...I got off the phone and I knew I had to talk to you immediately but it wasn't something I could tell you over the phone so I had to come straight here," Jessika said, turning so she was facing Ben. "Guess who called me."

"I am not in the mood for the guessing game, Jess, so if you'd just tell me, I'd appreciate it."

"Han," Jessika said softly, watching the emotions flicker over Ben's face. "Han called me, Benjamin. He called it step one towards reconciliation."

Ben stared at her long and hard before he had to gasp for air, only realizing as he did it that he hadn't been breathing. "Han called you?"

"Yes."

"Han as in my father Han?"

"Yes."

"Reconciliation?" Ben leaned back against the sofa, clutching the arm because he felt like he couldn't breathe. 

"Yes." Jessika reached out and grabbed his other hand, squeezing it gently. "Breathe, Benjamin. You've got to breathe."

Ben closed his eyes and concentrated on taking one breath at a time, opening them again once he felt the pressure in his chest subside. "Jessika, if this is some sort of fucking joke, I'm going to kill you."

"It's not, I swear," Jessika said earnestly. "I would never joke with you about this. Never."

"This is..." Ben trailed off as Rey walked back into the room. "I don't know what this is, to be honest."

"So you have a father named Han," Rey said as she sat down in a chair across from him.

"A father named Han who wants to talk to you," Jessika said, squeezing Ben's hand again. "Desperately, I might add. He's missed you a lot."

"I can't..." Ben trailed off and took a deep breath. "I can't believe you're here saying these things to me, Jess. Am I dreaming?"

Jessika reached out and smacked Ben's cheek. "Benjamin Solo, you're not dreaming."

"Ow," Ben mumbled, bringing his hand up to touch where his skin was still stinging. "You didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did," Jessika said, letting go of Ben's hand and standing up. "Scotch? I think you need some."

"Sounds great," Ben said, motioning for Rey to come to join him on the sofa. "Bring Rey one too. Oh, and can yo—" 

"Make dinner for the three of us? Christ, we do this too often," Jessika called out from the kitchen. "You got the stuff for it?"

"Of course!" Ben responded, smiling when Rey settled onto the sofa next to him. "Hi."

"Hi."

"So you own Resistance Lanes, huh?" Ben asked, putting his head on Rey's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because compared to what you do, owning a bowling alley seems mundane and pointless," Rey murmured. "I thought it might bore you."

Ben shook his head. "You own my favorite bowling alley in the world. My family's been bowling there since before I was born. If anything, that makes you more awesome."

Rey laughed. "Good to know. How come I've never seen you in there before?"

"Too busy." Ben fell silent and they sat there quietly while the sounds of Jessika making dinner echoed out into the room. After a few minutes, Ben lifted his head and looked Rey in the eyes. "You can ask you know."

"How long has it been?"

"Since I was sixteen," Ben said, settling back into the sofa.

"So twelve years."

"Twelve years," Ben said, taking a deep breath. "I'm not sure how I feel about this, to be honest. And for him to call Jess instead of me? Why would he do that?" 

"Maybe he thought it would be a softer way to approach you?" Rey turned to face him and reached up, tangling a hand in Ben's long hair. "All I want is for you to be happy, okay? And if talking to Han is going to make you happy, then I think you should do it. But if you think it's not going to, then you should think about whether or not you really want to do it."

"I don't know what would make me happy," Ben said, sighing. "I mean, I kind of hate him for all the time it's been without speaking but there's still that part of me that loves him. And I don't know that talking to him would change that."

"Don't dwell on it too much," Rey murmured. "It'll only make you very depressed. I speak from experience."

Ben reached up and caressed her face. "I'm sorry your parents are such assholes. They don't know what they're missing."

"Your family doesn't know what they're missing either," Rey said softly. "Maybe we were meant to meet. Maybe we were meant to be each other's family."

"Mmm, I like that idea," Ben said, leaning forward. "I'll kiss to that."

Rey smiled and leaned in, and their lips had just met when Jessika walked back into the room. 

"Oh God! Sorry!"

Ben growled but Rey broke away from him. "I thought you said the best friend would scream and run away."

"That was if she found us in bed together," Ben said, his face scrunching up. "Bad memory."

"Extremely horrible, horrible memory!" Jessika exclaimed, shaking her head as she set the two glasses of scotch on the table. "Let's not think of that anymore."

"It's what instituted the policy of the customary warning phone call," Ben murmured, reaching out for his glass. "Which Jess completely ignored."

"Hey, it's been a weird-ass day alright? First the repair guy up and quits, which is just one of many reasons that you are needed at work, Rey, then two people show up looking for you and Finn loses his mind, then as I'm heading to my car, Han calls me. Cut me some slack, will you?"

Jessika turned around and headed back towards the kitchen, but Rey called out to stop her. "Jess, wait. What did the people who wanted to see me look like?"

"Um, a tall dude with short, brown hair and gray streaks in it, and a smaller woman with shoulder-length, brown hair. They had suitcases. Finn ushered them into the office and then I didn't see them again."

"Thanks," Rey said as Jessika walked away.

Ben took the first sip of his drink and closed his eyes, letting the alcohol burn his throat. It was only after a few sips that he realized that Rey wasn't making any sounds, and he opened his eyes to see her frozen in place, her hand outstretched towards her glass. "Rey?"

"Did she say a tall man with short, brown hair and gray streaks, and a smaller woman with shoulder-length, brown hair showed up at the bowling alley today?" Rey got out, still not moving.

"Yes, she did."

"My parents," Rey whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. "My fucking parents."

Ben set his glass down and reached for Rey's hand, tangling their fingers together. "Your parents?"

Rey opened her eyes and Ben felt his heart clench at the pain and confusion in them. "My parents," she whispered. "They thought everything was a joke so as a final fuck you, I sent them a pair of bowling shoes decorated with dollar signs that were stuffed with fake hundred dollar bills. And now they're here. Why are they here?"

"Jessika!" Ben yelled.

"What?" Jessika yelled back from the kitchen.

"Do you know why the couple looking for Rey are here?"

Jessika walked back into the room, shaking her head. "I have no idea. All I know is they showed up, Finn went crazy, they went into Finn's office, and I'm supposed to tell Finn the moment Rey contacts me again."

"Then why haven't you called him?" Rey asked.

"Because you haven't contacted me," Jessika said simply. "I don't know what's going on, but it's up to you when you want to come back, not me."

"Thank you," Ben said, smiling at her. "Don't burn the food."

"When have I ever served you food that's been burnt?" Jessika huffed as she walked out of the room. "Honestly."

Ben turned his attention back to Rey, pulling her back to the sofa and wrapping her up in his arms. "You alright?"

"Confused," Rey murmured. "Very confused."

"Do you want to call Finn and find out what's going on?"

"I..." Rey trailed off and took a deep breath. "I think I need a little time to process this before I call him."

"Okay," Ben said, pressing a kiss to Rey's forehead. "You want your drink?"

Rey nodded and Ben reached out and snatched Rey's glass off the table. "Here," he said, handing it to her before reaching for his own glass. "Well, this has turned into quite the eventful evening." 

Rey laughed slightly as she brought the glass to her lips. "More drama than the movie we were going to watch."

"I don't know if I'd call it drama," Ben said, knocking back the rest of his drink. "But I'd say it's probably more interesting than the movie."

"Ben?"

"What?"

"I know I just told you not to dwell on it but..."

"But it's hard not to dwell on."

"Yeah."

"I know exactly how you feel," Ben said, leaning forward to kiss Rey softly. "Exactly."

*****

Rey looked around the empty bowling alley and took a deep breath before walking behind the counter. She turned the lights on, then figured out how to turn a lane on, and made her way over to the pro shop to pick out a ball. After finding one that wasn't too heavy and that her fingers fit in, Rey made her way to lane number five and started to bowl.

It had been years since she'd actually bowled, so it took her a while to get used to it again, slowly gaining in pin count as the frames went by. When she reached the tenth frame, she stood on her marks and stared down at the pins, but she couldn't bring herself to move forward and throw the ball. She stood there for what felt like hours, the memories of the first time she ever went bowling flashing through her mind at lightning speed. Her father explaining the game to her, helping her throw the ball for her first-ever strike. The memories came in wave after wave and it took her a while to realize that tears were flowing down her cheeks.

"Come on Rey, get a strike!"

Rey was so startled that she dropped the ball in her hands, cursing when it landed on her foot and searing pain went through her toes. She spun around to find Rose standing there. "You scared the fuck out of me!"

"Sorry, I thought you heard me come in," Rose said, stepping down into the bowling area and taking a seat in one of the chairs there. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be here. I came in early to get some work done before the alley opened up. That way no one thinks the office is open on a Sunday. What are you doing here?"

"Trying to clear my head," Rey said, retrieving the ball from where it had rolled and then setting it down in the ball return. "It's not working."

"Are you still mad at Finn?" Rose asked softly. "'Cause if you're going to be mad at anyone, it should be your parents."

"I'm not mad at anyone," Rey said, collapsing into the seat next to hers. "I just don't know how to deal with all of this."

"Well, there are two people inside our apartment who may be able to help with that," Rose inferred, and Rey nodded.

"Yeah, I know they are there. And I'm sure you know that I know because Jess has told everyone about seeing me at Ben's the other night."

"Of course."

"I don't understand why they're here, Rose. They hate me."

"No one should hate you, Rey. You can only be yourself, and if people can't accept you for who you are, then fuck them. Personally, I think they want a little money. But that's just me."

Rey laughed slightly. "A little? I think they want a ton of money."

"Finn keeps telling them that he's legally obligated to not give them a penny," Rose said. "Your father said he wants to challenge that, and then your mother said that they'll have to borrow the money for the legal fees from you."

Rey gave Rose a look of disbelief. "What?"

"Oh yeah. Finn launched into this whole thing about statutes and by-laws and bullshit, basically, to get them to think the idea of borrowing money from you for that purpose was illegal. It was quite impressive."

Rey just shook her head. "That's why he's a great lawyer."

"That's what I said."

Rey fell silent for a moment, then took a deep breath and looked over at Rose. "Be honest with me. What's going to happen when I go over there and see them?"

"From my observations of them over the last few days? I think you'll get a hug from your mother, a polite handshake from your father, and a confirmation that your parents don't want to be a part of your life anymore and are only here for a payout," Rose said softly. "I wouldn't mind it if you came over and got this over with sooner rather than later because they are starting to drive me crazy and Finn won't have sex with them in the apartment."

Rey laughed. "Oh, he so wouldn't. He probably freaked out at the very notion."

"You got that right. So you ready to face them yet?"

"I'm thinking about it," Rey murmured, standing up. "Wait here."

Rose nodded and Rey jogged back to her office, opening up a drawer and searching around in it for a moment until her hand closed around what she was looking for. She made her way back to Rose and held the key out in front of her, giving her a slight smile. 

"They can stay at my house," Rey said, shaking the key. "This is the extra key. Let them in there, and when I'm ready to talk to them, I'll go home. I'd rather that be in private than in front of Finn anyway."

Rose took the key from Rey's hand with a smile. "That sounds like a fantastic plan. I'm half tempted to forgo the work and go get them moved now."

Rey laughed and went to pick up her ball. "I think that sounds like a good plan, Rose."

"Fuck it, that's what I'm doing," Rose said, standing up. "But first I want to see you get a strike."

Rey rolled her eyes as she stepped up to the marks. "Of course you do."

"Come on, Rey. You can do it."

Rey took a deep breath and lined up the shot. She stepped forward and threw the ball down the lane, watching as it curved at just the right moment and smashed into the pins, sending all ten of them flying.

"Yay!" Rose yelled out behind her, and Rey turned to face her with a smile.

"Hey, Rose?"

"What?"

"Thanks for the encouragement," Rey said softly.

"No problem," Rose said, heading towards the door. "Thanks for giving me a way to get your parents out of my apartment!"

*****

"Are you going to see your parents today?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Not ready."

"Alright, that's it," Ben said, climbing out of the bed, reaching for his pants and putting them on. "I love you, and I love having you here, but you need to go home and face your parents. They've been at your house for a week, Rey. A week. Jess said that Finn told her that your father is wondering why on earth he came all this way, and Finn apparently thinks that you can get them to go back to Nebraska without a dime of your money. So, I'm kicking you out. You have to leave and you have to leave now."

Ben finished fastening his pants and looked over to where Rey was still in bed, staring at him with a look that he couldn't quite decipher. "Rey."

"I'm sorry," Rey said softly, a bit of wonder in her voice. "I didn't hear anything you said after you told me that you loved me."

Ben rewound his side of the conversation in his head and then played it back, sighing when he realized what he'd said. "I didn't mean to say it that way."

"I don't care," Rey said, scrambling across the bed to pull Ben down next to her. "You said it."

"Yeah," Ben murmured, leaning forward to kiss Rey softly. "I did."

Rey let out a shuddering breath. "No one's ever said that they loved me before."

"Rey," Ben said softly, "you should have heard that a million times by now. Especially from me, considering how long I've known."

"How long?"

Ben let out a small laugh. "Since the moment you realized I voice Kylo, really."

"It's been about that long for me too," Rey said, leaning her head back against the mattress. "Since you made me breakfast that morning."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Ben leaned forward and kissed Rey again. "So now that we've established that, can we move on to my actual point?"

"You're kicking me out to force me to go see my parents," Rey said, sighing when Ben nodded his head. "I saw this coming, to be perfectly honest. But I think you're a hypocrite."

"Excuse me?"

"You're forcing me to go see my parents when you won't even call your own father."

Ben sighed and rolled onto his back, running his hands over his face. "It's a little different, Rey. It's been years since I've spoken to him, not a few months."

"Alright, so it's a little different, but it's still the same at its core."

"You're...you're right, I suppose," Ben conceded. "Make you a deal?"

"Alright."

"You go see your parents, and while you're gone, I will call Han," Ben said, turning to look at Rey. "I think that's only fair."

Rey thought about it for a moment before sighing heavily. "Deal on one condition."

"Name it."

"Sex again first."

Ben laughed but reached for the zip of his pants. "Deal."


	9. Chapter 9

"My father's an asshole as per usual. He literally asked me to buy them a plane. A _plane._ "

"Han talked about his girlfriend a lot. Qi'ra is an interesting person when it comes to my father. I don't know what to think of it."

"My mother, on the other hand...I don't know what to make of her."

"Qi'ra is half the reason my parents are divorced, I think. I mean, I don't really know the whole story but my mother hates her, that's for sure."

"I think that once they get back to Nebraska, and they realize what I'm going to make them go through to get even a dime of Jaxon's money, there is absolutely no chance of my parents ever recognizing I exist again. My father referred to me as the demon child."

"I wonder if my mother is aware of what Han is up to with Qi'ra. If she is, I'm sure she's furious."

"I love you too."

Ben opened his mouth to continue but paused, turning his head to stare at Rey in the dark. "What?"

"I didn't say it this morning," Rey said softly. "That didn't feel right to me."

Ben slid closer to Rey and put his head on her shoulder. "Okay, so we've both said it now."

"Yup."

"This means we never have to say it again, right?" Ben joked.

Rey slapped at his leg. "Shut up."

"I've already told you I'm not good at this emotional stuff."

"Neither am I," Rey yawned. "I'm not asking you to say that to me every five minutes. Just at the important moments."

"The important moments, huh?"

"Yeah," Rey murmured. "I don't think that's too much to ask."

"It's not," Ben said softly, shifting around to curl into Rey's embrace. "I'm used to you being here all the time now. Are you sure you have to go home?"

"Snap and Poe want to take me to some sort of breakfast place that sells alcohol at the crack of dawn. It's easier if I go home now than in the middle of the night," Rey said.

"You know Emma and I were living together long before we ever said the L-word to each other."

"We're not Emma and you."

"I know," Ben said, burrowing against her. "I just really don't want you to go."

Rey fell silent for a moment, then sucked in a deep breath. "Then come home with me."

Ben thought about it for all of a second. "Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Rey shifted them around until her lips were pressed against Ben's. "Today was a really important day, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," Ben murmured, rolling Rey onto her back and climbing on top of her. "We should celebrate that before we go to your place."

"Mmm, yes we should," Rey agreed, reaching up and tangling her fingers in Ben's hair. "We definitely should."

"Shut up and kiss me."

*****

Rey was standing at the counter when DJ walked into the building and she rolled her eyes. “The answer is still no.”

DJ approached her with a smile that Rey was increasingly beginning to think was creepy. “You haven't heard my latest proposal.”

“If your proposal is still to buy my bowling alley, the answer is still no.”

“Ah, but you don't just own the bowling alley, now do you?” DJ said, his smile widening. “You own the laundromat too.”

Rey gave him a confused look. “I thought you already knew that.”

“The building that houses the laundromat has never been in your name until now,” DJ said. “So I couldn't legally approach the owner of it since the listed owner had been dead for over a year. But when I went to check it this morning, what do I see but your name listed as the property owner.”

“Yeah, apparently that was just approved,” Rey said, shrugging. “I don't understand why things take so long to go through the California court system. That building was part of my inheritance from Jaxon.”

“Well, what it is now is a way for you to make some disposable income fast,” DJ said, setting his briefcase on the counter and opening it up. “My client is proposing a purchase of just that building so that he can tear it down and build offices.”

Rey just shook her head. “What part of no don't you understand?”

“What I cannot understand is the fact that you are repeatedly ignoring my attempts to make you a very rich woman,” DJ said firmly.

Rey leaned up against the counter and laughed. “Alright, just to fulfill my curiosity, how much is he offering?”

“Two million for the building, five million total for both,” DJ said, the grin on his face telling Rey that he was certain he'd gotten what he wanted.

Rey pretended to think about things for a few moments, instead remembering the financial update that Anakin had given her the last time she'd seen him. If she took the five million from DJ, then she would gain money for sure but it wasn't worth it. Not to have to put so many people that she'd come to like out of a job and to leave her with nothing to do again. 

Rey had learned many things since she arrived in San Francisco. She knew that having nothing for her to do was only going to make her life retreat into the living hell that it had been before she'd come there. There was no way she was going to let that happen.

“DJ, that's quite the offer,” she finally said, smiling at him. “And I'm sure that your client is someone who can come up with that money quickly.”

“I can have it for you by the end of the day tomorrow if you wish,” DJ said, still grinning at her. “I have a contract for you to sign already drawn up.” Rey watched as he pulled some papers out of the briefcase and slid them across the counter. “The lines for you to sign on are clearly marked.”

Rey watched as he held out a pen to her and she took it, staring down at the contract before grinning. Taking the pen, she carefully wrote on every line and then slid the papers back across the counter. “Does that work for you, DJ?”

DJ took the pen back and looked down at the papers, quickly flipping through every page. “What the fuck did you write on here?”

“I used each space to deliver my message to your client,” Rey said, laughing. “ _I motherfucking said no._ What part of that don't you understand?”

DJ glared at her for a moment before pulling himself together. “This is not the end of this.”

“Probably not, because you're persistent. But no matter how many times you come in here, the answer will remain the same.”

DJ quickly shut his briefcase and pulled it off the counter, reaching up to adjust his tie. “One of you will cave sooner rather than later. And I look forward to wiping that smug look off your face once someone does. The offer will be much lower then.”

“No one is going to cave,” Rey called out as he walked away. “I think you're underestimating all of us!”

DJ walked out of the building without saying another word, leaving Rey there laughing. That arrogant as fuck lawyer had no idea about the conversations that had gone on between Rey, Old Ben, and Qui-Gon about the block and the pact that had been made. He had no idea that the three of them had discussed what their properties were worth and how much their businesses had made them over the years. He had no idea that the money he was offering was considerably less than what any of them currently had. 

None of them needed the money, so why would they break the pact and take it?

DJ was just wasting his time and Rey was going to enjoy every second of turning him down until he finally got the hint and left for good.

*****

"You seem lost in thought a million miles away from here," Rey murmured, snuggling up against Ben. "Did I bore you that much with my DJ story?"

"No," Ben responded. "Just thinking about something."

"Want to talk about it?"

"You're going to think it's silly. I think it's silly."

"There is nothing you could say that I would think is silly," Rey said, pressing a soft kiss to Ben's skin. "Tell me."

Ben was silent for a few minutes, but then he sighed heavily. "I was thinking about the show I'd like to do. Some changes need to be made to the narrative."

"Such as?"

"Such as he doesn't meet a great girl who comes without any baggage. Instead, one that does but the baggage doesn't scare him."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I love your friends. Even Snap."

Rey smiled and kissed Ben's skin again. "I'm glad to hear that, 'cause I don't think they're going anywhere for a while."

"I don't want them to," Ben mumbled. "With them around, it makes it feel like we have a family."

"We do have a family," Rey pointed out. "All of our friends are our family."

"No," Ben said, shifting around so he was laying on his side and looking at Rey. "It makes it feel like you and I have a family. As in a family of our own within the larger extended family."

Rey thought about it for a moment. "I don't understand."

"I'm thinking about forever plans," Ben said suddenly. "Forever plans with you."

Rey leaned forward and kissed him softly. "I've been thinking about them for months."

"It's terrifying."

"That is is."

"But invigorating."

"Also true."

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Ben said softly, caressing the side of Rey's face. "And I want you to want to spend the rest of your life with me."

Rey leaned forward and kissed him again. "Well, then it's a good thing we both want the same thing."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Ben let out a huge sigh and melted into Rey's embrace. "Good."

"Definitely good."

They laid in silence for several minutes until Rey's sigh interrupted their peace.

"What?" Ben asked.

"I was just thinking about how I hate that you've got this whole world in your head based upon your life and that you don't share it with anyone but me."

Ben cleared his throat. "I, um, I was talking about it with the producer of the show the other day, to be perfectly honest. He's interested in turning it into a reality."

Rey turned towards Ben with a surprised look on her face. "Really?"

"Yeah," Ben said, smiling. "He was telling me that the network is looking for another animated show to air in the time slot right before ours, but that the creators of our show weren't interested in coming up with another concept, and I mentioned that I had a concept, and well, I have a series of meetings to go through now, but it's promising."

"It's more than promising, it's fantastic!" Rey exclaimed, catching Ben's lips in a deeper kiss. "We need to celebrate."

"We will celebrate when there is something to celebrate. Right now all it is is a bunch of meetings."

"I don't care. It's amazing news, Ben. Amazing."

"Well, if you insist we celebrate, I could be up for some sinful sexual misconduct."

Rey laughed hysterically. "Sinful sexual misconduct?"

"It sounded better in my head," Ben said, laughing. "But you know what I mean."

"I know exactly what you mean," Rey said, rolling Ben onto his back and climbing on top of him. "And I think it's a great idea."

Ben laughed as he worked Rey's shirt over her head. "Good."


	10. Chapter 10

"Rey, Finn wants to see you!" Jessika called out from the front.

"Do you know why?"

"Something about Thanksgiving."

"Thank you," Rey said, standing up and walking out of the office. She went past the counter and headed towards Finn's office, letting herself in once she was there.

"Rey!"

"Finn," Rey responded, prompting him to giggle uncontrollably. "Are you drunk?"

"He just won a big case," Rose said, walking into the main office area from the meeting room. "He allows himself a bottle of champagne when that happens."

"Well, congratulations," Rey said, walking over to Finn and hugging him.

"Thanks!" Finn replied, hugging her tighter than was necessary. "Rey, tomorrow is Thanksgiving."

"I am aware of that."

"You haven't told me what you're doing for Thanksgiving."

"Absolutely nothing as it's not a holiday I feel I need to celebrate," Rey said, rolling her eyes when Finn groaned and slapped her shoulder. 

"It's a tradition!"

Rey looked over at Rose. "Has he had the whole bottle already?"

Rose picked up the bottle and swished it around. "Nope, only about half."

"Please tell me he doesn't have appointments this afternoon."

"He doesn't."

"Good," Rey said, wincing when Finn slapped at her shoulder again, but harder. "Ow! Stop it!"

"Listen to me," Finn slurred. "You have got to celebrate Thanksgiving. It's an amazing holiday."

"Finn, Thanksgiving has absolutely nothing to do with what Thanksgiving actually originated for anymore. It's a commercialized holiday about turkeys and a parade. It has absolutely nothing to do with me so I don't feel the need to celebrate it."

"But you're American!"

"That doesn't mean you have to celebrate Thanksgiving," Rey pointed out.

"It does in his drunken logic," Rose interjected, prompting a soft chuckle from Rey. 

"The two of you can fuck off!" Finn exclaimed. "Until tomorrow, when we all have Thanksgiving!"

Rey looked over at Rose. "What's he talking about?"

"I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and you and Ben are invited," Rose said, walking past them to get to a filing cabinet. "If you don't want to come, it's fine."

"It is not!" Finn exclaimed, smacking Rey's shoulder again. "Why don't you want to come?"

Rey grabbed a hold of Finn's wrists to stop him from hitting her again. "I didn't say we wouldn't come. I just said that it's not a holiday that I was thinking I was going to celebrate. But if Rose is cooking dinner, I'm all for that. Ben will probably eat half of everything Rose makes. I do not understand how he eats that much and stays that skinny."

"That's fine, 'cause there's going to be plenty," Rose said, closing one drawer of the cabinet and opening another. "And babe, stop hitting Rey. She's not doing anything."

"Fine," Finn pouted. "But only if she says they're coming over."

"We're coming over."

"Yay!" Finn cheered, pulling his hands away from Rey and stumbling back to his desk. "More champagne!"

Rey looked over at Rose. "You sure he should drink this?"

"Oh yeah, I'm well used to this," Rose said, smiling as Finn brought the bottle to his lips and tipped it back. "Come over around noon, okay? There's some football on and we'll eat at about four."

"Sounds good," Rey said. "I'll be there, but I have no clue about Ben. I'll ask him though."

"Good enough for me," Rose said, looking over at Finn. "You may want to get out of here before he realizes what you just said though."

Rey took the hint and ran out of the office.

*****

Rey collapsed against the mattress and tried to catch her breath, blinking the sweat out of her eyes. "Holy shit, we haven't done that in a while."

"Been kind of afraid to with the neighbors next door," Ben breathed out, collapsing onto the bed next to her. "But here in your house with no one on the other side of the wall..."

"Is it just me or is sex always better when we do it here than when we do it in your apartment?" Rey asked after a moment. 

Ben let out a chuckle. "It's not just you."

After a few minutes, Ben tried to find the clock with his eyes. "What time is it?"

"I don't know," Rey said. "Probably way past the time we were supposed to be there."

"I'm surprised Finn isn't knocking down the door," Ben said. "But we can probably still make it there before dinner."

"Probably. And if we don't go, we don't go," Rey said, forcing herself to take a few deep breaths. "I found your invitation more intriguing than going over there anyway."

"Sex over food, always," Ben laughed. "That's my philosophy at least."

"It's a good philosophy," Rey agreed. "Plus I didn't feel like celebrating a holiday that I don't really see a need to celebrate."

"I'm the same way. My friends are always like 'come to Thanksgiving dinner' and I politely decline and remind them I don't care."

"I don't need Thanksgiving when I've got you doing that thing with your tongue," Rey said, turning her head to look at Ben. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

Ben shook his head and turned it away from Rey's gaze. "You don't want to know."

And Rey knew exactly what that meant. "Emma."

"Yeah."

"You know we're going to have to talk about her more if the series goes ahead, right? 'Cause I don't want to be finding out things about your relationship with her by watching television."

"I know," Ben sighed. "It just feels weird to talk about her when I'm in bed with you. Or, you know, anywhere with you."

"Ben."

"Rey."

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know about the assholes that came before you."

"I don't want to know about them. I don't want to know about anyone you ever had sex with."

"Are you afraid that I'm going to think differently about you because of your relationship with her?" Rey asked softly. "Because I'm not."

Ben shifted around until his back was facing Rey. "You don't know that."

Rey reached out and traced a finger down Ben's spine. "Do you know what I used to think about every time you kissed me?"

"What?"

"I thought about how much I could get used to this," Rey said softly. "I've thought that from our very first kiss. And now I am used to it, and you know what I think about? I think about how amazing it is that someone like you loves me. I know there are others before me, Ben. That doesn't bother me in the slightest. What bothers me is the thought that there might be others after me."

Ben rolled onto his back and looked at Rey. "I told you, Rey. Forever plans. You know what that means to me."

"I know. But I'm just telling you, that's my fear. Not that some ghost from your past is going to come back and ruin things between us. So you had an extremely serious relationship with a woman named Emma. So what? Emma is gone now, and from what little you've told me, she's never coming back. So what's wrong with me knowing about your time with her?"

Ben sighed and moved closer to Rey, putting his head on her pillow. "I just don't understand what's important about you knowing what happened with Emma. I get you not wanting to learn it by watching television, but can't we cover that stuff then? Why do we have to do it now?"

"I don't care when or how. I just care that it happens," Rey said, wrapping an arm around Ben's waist. "She was a big part of your life."

Ben sighed heavily. "You want to know how we met?"

"That seems as good of a place to start as any."

"Do you remember the story arc in season two where Kylo's sister made a bunch of appearances?"

Rey nodded. "Of course. I just rewatched those episodes last week."

"Well, Emma voiced Kylo's sister." Rey gasped and Ben chuckled. "She used to joke that we were being incestuous."

"You slept with your television sister!" Rey exclaimed, reaching out to mess up Ben's hair. "Oh my God!"

"Let's stress television there, alright," Ben said, laughing as he tried to slap Rey's hands away. "And she's the one who came on to me."

"What?"

"Oh yeah," Ben said shifting around so he could look at Rey. "We had this table read and that was the first time I saw her, and god, I thought she was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. But there was that wedding band on her finger, and so I just shoved all thoughts of anything more out of my head. Then after the table read, she came up to me and said she wanted us to go through our interactions again, because she was trying to perfect her voice. So we went back to my hotel room, and before we could even begin, she kissed me."

"She kissed you!"

Ben chuckled. "Needless to say, there was very little practicing and a whole lot of fucking. She was amazing and it felt like it was something special to both of us. By the end of that first night, we sort of knew we were in for one hell of a ride. That first night was exhilarating."

"So she felt very strongly towards you immediately too."

"Exactly. And that's why things between us got very serious very quickly," Ben said, reminiscing. "We had so much sex the first week, and I thought for a long time that that week was going to be the best week of my life. But then I met you and I realized that it didn't even come close."

"See, things like that last sentence are why Emma doesn't bother me."

"Even if I were to say they were bringing her back in for a few episodes?"

"Even then," Rey said softly. "I trust you, Ben."

"I trust you too," Ben said, laying his head down on Rey's pillow. "They're not, by the way."

"They're not what?"

"They're not bringing her back."

"Oh. Good," Rey said, smiling softly. "Now tell me more about you and Emma."

"Isn't that enough for one night?" Ben asked, shifting around until he was straddling Rey's hips. "'Cause I can think of something far more interesting that we could be doing right now."

Rey groaned as Ben rocked his hips into hers and nodded immediately. "You win, you win. Just don't stop doing that."

Ben just grinned at her.

*****

Rey walked into the building and she was immediately hit by the smell of cleaning supplies. Wincing, she forced her eyes back open and walked further inside, heading to the main counter where Jessika was watching a team scrub the wall behind lane one. "Jess, what is going on?"

"Oh, I finally was able to get someone in here for the thorough cleaning we talked about," Jessika said. "They've been here since six a.m. and look at how well it's turning out."

Rey followed Jessika's outstretched arm with her eyes and saw the half of the wall where the team of cleaners had already worked and how it compared to the half they were working on now. "Holy shit. It looks like it got a new coat of paint."

"I'll be perfectly honest with you, Rey," Jessika said. "I don't know when the last time this place was cleaned beyond vacuuming and spraying down the counters."

"Then it's a good thing we're doing this," Rey said, walking past her and towards her office. "But wow, the smell of those cleaning supplies."

"Oh, I know," Jessika said. "That's why we're closed today."

Rey walked back out of the office. "We're closed today?"

"Yeah," Jessika said, fear creeping over her face. "Oh my God, did I never run that by you? Fuck, I am so sorry, Rey. I thought I did."

"Jess, it's fine," Rey said, smiling at her. "I wouldn't want anyone in here inhaling all of these chemicals anyway."

"Which is precisely why we're closed today. I think I should probably prop open all the doors and air the place out though."

"I think that is a great idea," Rey said, nodding. 

"On it!" Jessika said, jogging away from the counter. 

Rey turned her back to the lanes and flipped through some paperwork that Luke and Mara had left for her to sign, and she turned back around when she heard a soft cough behind her. 

Snap was standing there with a woman she didn't recognize, and Snap smiled at her. "Hey, Rey."

"Hey, Snap," Rey said, putting the paperwork down and walking towards him. "What's going on?"

"First off, this is Leia Skywalker," Snap said, introducing the woman with him. 

Leia smiled. "Anakin and Padmé's daughter, Luke's sister."

Rey laughed at that. "Seems like you say that a lot."

Leia laughed. "You are not wrong. We wanted to talk to you about something if you have the time."

"Absolutely," Rey said, waving them behind the counter. "Let's talk in my office back here."

Leia nodded and they followed Rey back to the office. Snap had been in the office many times so all the photographs on the walls didn't phase him, but Leia was captivated by them. As she stood and looked at them, Snap sat down across from Rey and got down to business.

"Look, Poe's research is in desperate need of funds. They've been trying all the conventional ways and they're just not working. Leia works in the marketing department at the lab where Poe works and they've brought in my company as a consultant, and between the two of us, we came up with this idea to benefit Poe's research, so I'm here to ask you for a favor and a fundraiser."

"A fundraiser?" Rey asked.

“A bowl-a-thon,” Snap said, drawing Leia's attention back to them.

"It's definitely not your typical way of raising funds for research, that's for sure," Leia said, sitting down across from her. "But I feel like this could be a very successful unconventional way of raising at least a portion of the money we need for the project. I'm not expecting to raise it all here, of course."

"Interesting," Rey said, thinking about it. "It's probably going to be a hard sell though. Microbiology isn't exactly the most glamorous thing to raise money for."

"Which is why I'm hoping we can work out a scenario that will bring a lot of people in for the bowling aspect," Snap said. "And then maybe a few select people make larger donations." 

"Look, Rey, can I be honest with you?" Leia asked.

"Sure.”

"I absolutely hate the constant high brow fundraisers we do to raise money for research. I don't want to have to wear another fancy dress and eat hors-d'oeuvres that are disgusting. I want to have some fun. If I don't have some fun soon, I'm going to have to look for another job because this one is boring me to death."

Rey nodded. "I completely understand. And I think this is a good idea. So, let's dream up a fundraiser that's fun then."

Snap grinned. "Wonderful."

The three of them spent the next two hours going back and forth over details, and when Snap and Leia left, Rey called Jessika in and let her in on the plan. 

"We're throwing a fundraising bowl-a-thon for Poe's microbiology research?" Jessika glanced at the notes Rey had given her. "Gotta say, Rey. I don't know about this one. I mean, I'm sure that we'll get some people to come in just from the bowling standpoint. Twenty dollars buys you six hours of bowling? They'll love that."

"Look, Jess, to be perfectly honest, we know that this isn't going to raise a tremendous amount of money," Rey said. "I'm planning on making a sizable donation to the research project during the event. Anything else that comes from it would just be extra."

Jessika nodded. "So you want me to get to work on this?"

"Please."

"Then I'll get to work on logistics of a bowl-a-thon," Jessika said, standing up. "You know, you should try to hire Leia away from the lab. She'd be excellent at marketing."

"Why does the bowling alley need someone for marketing?" Rey asked, following Jessika out of the office.

"Do you want people to keep coming in?"

"Yes."

"Do you want there to be new promotions to entice people to come in?"

"Yes."

"Then you need someone good at marketing. I am not. The bullshit that I come up with doesn't really work. Jaxon always told me it did but he was just being polite and I always knew that."

Rey took that information in. "I'll think about that then. I'm going to head home. I've got some other stuff to do. I won't be here for a few days, okay?"

"Alright, boss. I'll get everything worked out in the meantime."


	11. Chapter 11

The bowling alley was packed with people, and Rey couldn't keep the smile off her face as she looked around. Poe was wandering from lane to lane, talking with people while holding a mostly empty donation jar. Snap's jar, on the other hand, was filled to the top and Rey laughed at the contrast between them as Snap made yet another group of people laugh.

Finn walked over to where Rey was sitting behind the counter and set a check down on top of it, sliding it over in front of her. "A donation from Rose and me."

"You didn't have to do that," Rey said, picking up the check and widening her eyes when she saw the amount. "You really didn't have to do that."

"Yeah, well, we wanted to," Finn said, leaning up against the counter. "You guys are the closest thing to family that I have out here, so this is what I want to do with some of my money. Our money. It's what we want to do with some of our money."

"Well, I'm sure Poe will appreciate it," Rey said, smiling at him. "I'll let you tell him about it."

"Oh, please don't," Finn begged. "I've already had to hear about some sort of microorganism that I've never heard of enough this week."

Rey gave him a confused look. "When have you been talking to Poe this week?"

"Poe called me up Monday morning, said he'd had an absolutely terrifying dream where he died and wanted to make sure that provisions were in place that in case it came true, the right people would inherit what is his," Finn said as quietly as he could. "Which got me thinking."

"What could that possibly have you thinking about?"

"Do you have a last will and testament?" Finn asked, nodding when Rey gave him a blank stare in return. "That's what I thought. We should draw one up for you. That way if something should happen to you, then the business and the money would go where you would want it to."

"I've never thought about that," Rey said, shrugging her shoulders. "I suppose I should."

"It's a good idea, but one we can work on within the next few days," Finn said, turning and spotting Rose waving at him from across the room. "Got to go, Rose is calling me."

"See you later," Rey called after him. She went back to people watching until she felt someone step up behind her and wrap two arms around her waist.

"Hello," Ben whispered, bending down to brush a kiss along her neck. "I got done early so I drove back today instead of in the morning."

Rey spun around in his arms and kissed Ben softly. "Well, I am always happier when you're here, so that is definitely a good thing."

“And I spent the entire drive back talking to Han,” Ben said. “It was weird but I think it was good too.”

“That's wonderful,” Rey said, smiling at him. “I can't wait to hear all about it.”

“Not here,” Ben said, shaking his head. “Tonight, once we're home. I'll tell you all about it then. I even talked to Qi'ra for a while and that was weirder than you could ever imagine.”

“Well, I will be happy to balance out the weird with something else once we're home.”

“Oh, is that so?” Ben said playfully. “I cannot wait to see what you've got cooked up then.”

They both jumped when they heard the sound of a jar of money crashing to the counter. They spun around to find Leia standing on the other side of the counter, the jar of money she'd collected shattered across it. 

Ben took a deep breath. "Hello, Mama."

Leia let a smile cross her face. "Hello, Benjamin."

Ben and Leia stared at each other for a long time before Ben broke down and let go of Rey, walking around the counter and up to Leia, wrapping his arms around her in a large embrace. "It's good to see you, Mama."

"Oh, my Ben," Leia said, pulling him closer. "Oh, my son. How I've missed you."

Ben took a deep breath and smiled into her shoulder. "I've missed you too, Mama."

Leia pulled back and took a good look at her son. "Your hair is longer but other than that, you look exactly the same."

"Did you expect me to look that much different?" Ben asked.

"Well, one never knows," Leia said, smiling. "Oh, it's you. It's really you."

"Yes, Mama, it's really me," Ben said, looking over at Rey. "So, um, I'd introduce you but I guess you know my mother."

Rey smiled. "I think I know all of your family."

"I quietly assumed that you probably knew Luke and Mara once I found out you owned this place, but I never thought you'd know Mama," Ben said, motioning for Rey to come towards him. "Come here."

Rey walked over to where they were and Ben wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. "Mama, this is Rey. And she's very special to me."

"I could tell that from the position I found you in behind the counter," Leia said playfully.

"No, Mama," Ben said, shaking his head. "She's forever plans kind of special."

Leia stared at them for a moment before breaking out into a wide smile. "Oh, Benjamin! I'm so happy for you two! Forever plans. Tell me when and where and I'll be there. How wonderful."

Rey chuckled next to him. "We're pretty far away from the actually legalizing it part. But we know this is special."

Leia's eyes lit up as she noticed someone walking up behind them, and then Ben took a deep breath as the sound of Anakin's voice hit their ears. 

"Leia, I thought you were going to get another jar."

"I was, Dad, but then I found the greatest gift in the world."

Anakin walked over to stand next to her and looked up, locking eyes with Ben. Ben stared at his grandfather for a moment before tears started to form in his eyes, and Anakin grinned before stepping forward and giving Ben a big hug. 

"Benjamin."

"Grandpa."

"It's good to see you again, son," Anakin said as he pulled back. "Now you have to promise to stay. Your grandmother will want to see you. Just listening to your voice on that show of yours hasn't been enough over the past several years."

Ben blinked rapidly as tears began to roll down his cheeks. "You watch _First Order_?"

"Every week," Anakin said, smiling. "And I know Kylo is supposed to be evil, but we love him anyway."

Ben turned to Rey and buried his head in her neck, letting the tears fall. She wrapped her arms around him and ran a soothing hand down his back. "It's alright," she said softly into his ear. "Everything is going to be alright."

Anakin took one look at them and smiled. "And you have a girlfriend in Rey."

"It's a small world, isn't it?" Rey said, smiling.

"Very small," Anakin said, laughing. "I'm going to go find Padmé. You stay here, okay?"

Leia stepped closer to them as Anakin walked away, putting a comforting hand on Ben's shoulder. "Ben, it's okay. No one is mad, darling. Everything was forgiven a long time ago."

Ben stood up straight and pulled himself together, wiping at his eyes with the end of his sleeves. "This is so not how I was expecting this day to go. We finished early so I headed home sooner than expected and talked to Han the whole ride home, and then I came here to see Rey and this happens."

Rey noticed that several people were starting to watch them, so she tugged on Ben's hand. "Why don't we take this family reunion into my office so that it's in private?"

Ben glanced over at the lanes and saw what Rey was seeing. "Good idea. Ladies, after you."

*****

Rey walked into the office and Anakin smiled at her, hiding his cookie bag underneath the desk. "Rey, it's good to see you."

"Good to see you too," Rey said, sitting down in one of the chairs. "Thanks for seeing me."

"Anything for Benjamin's girlfriend," Anakin said, spinning his chair around and reaching for the right file. 

"I wanted to talk to you about two things that are very important to me."

"Padmé said you said something on the phone about wanting to make an investment and to pay for something."

"Right," Rey said, taking a deep breath. "I want to invest money into the laundromat that occupies the building that I own, and I want to continue to pay for the rehabilitation treatment of my friend's sister."

Anakin spun the chair around and set the file down on the desk. "You want to invest in the laundromat and continue to pay for the friend's sister's rehabilitation treatment."

Rey nodded. "Yes."

"We'll deal with the laundromat in a second. Talk to me about the rehab payment."

"It's just like I told you before," Rey said. "The sister is addicted to several drugs, and she needs rehab badly, but her family doesn't have the resources to send her back there. The sister was released for three days and got arrested for heroin possession already. So I wanted to pay for her treatment and continue to do it anonymously because I don't want them to know that I did it."

Anakin opened up the file and started looking through the pages. "Where do you want to take the money out of? Because I was going to talk to you about the budget for the renovations for the bowling alley and how the estimate came in at more than we had originally discussed."

"It did?"

"Yes. Jessika said there was a copy of the estimate in your office to look at."

"I, um, I haven't been at work that much lately," Rey said softly. 

Anakin spun his chair slightly to the right and starting typing into his keyboard, pausing for a moment to adjust the screen. "Let me do a few balance checks and calculations. Also, Jessika brought up an interesting point when she came in the other day. Where exactly are your nightclub profits?"

"Huh?"

"The deposits made into your accounts are strictly for the bowling alley and the snack bar-slash-pizza shop because those are the ones that Jessika takes care of. She said that your nightclub manager was supposed to take care of the nightclub deposits but that she had no idea how that was done."

Rey leaned back in her chair and sighed. "I'm not even sure I know who my nightclub manager is. I've never really gone in there." 

Anakin paused typing and gave Rey a concerned look. "Might I suggest doing that?"

"I'll do it tonight, I swear," Rey said firmly. "I didn't realize I needed to do that."

"A good businesswoman knows everything there is to know about their business," Anakin said, going back to typing. "And I want you to be a good businesswoman, Rey. It's essential to the entire block that you not fail in this endeavor. Which is why I'm slightly concerned about wanting to invest in the laundromat."

"I just want to help Phasma out," Rey said, sighing heavily. "And I don't know how else to do it."

"Perhaps you can think of other ways to help her out than to invest in a business that can barely make its rent payments to you," Anakin said, giving Rey another look. "I heard you gave her another month of mercy."

"The family is going through some serious problems at the moment. The friend whose sister is in rehab? That's Phasma. The last thing she needs to be worrying about is paying me money that I don't need."

"Continue spending money at the rate that you are, and you may need that money," Anakin pointed out. "Of course, that's talking about the state of the accounts the way it is without the nightclub money. With the nightclub, money could be a completely different issue. The nightclub is the real moneymaker of the place."

"I'll work on it," Rey said seriously. "Tonight, I promise."

"Good," Anakin said. "Give me the name of the sister and the place she's at again and I'll make sure the payments for her treatment are covered."

"I can do that?"

"From the numbers I'm looking at, yes," Anakin said, scribbling out a few notes. "And you want it anonymous?"

"Yes."

"I sincerely hope you tell your friend about your generosity one day," Anakin said softly. "In the meantime, find out about that nightclub money and once you do, give me a call and tell me what's going on with it. Because I have scoured the accounts and I cannot find it anywhere."

"On it," Rey said, standing up and reaching out to shake Anakin's hand. "Thanks for everything, Anakin."

Anakin laughed. "It's nothing special. Only my job."

*****

Rey walked into the Rebellion Club and looked around, spotting Ello behind the bar and figuring that he was the best place to start. She made her way through the crowd and approached the bar, and Ello immediately came over to her and gave her a flirtatious smile. 

"So the boss finally shows up in the club. Excellent."

"Good to see you too, Ello," Rey said. "How's Finch?"

"Finch is wonderful," Ello beamed. "But I get the feeling you didn't wander in here to talk about my boyfriend."

"I'm looking for Suralinda Javos," Rey said. "Or whoever the manager is."

"Suralinda it is." Ello turned to his left and whistled, catching the attention of a woman at the far end of the bar. She came walking down to them, a very unhappy look on her face.

"Asty, we're swamped. Whatever this is can fucking wait."

"Well, Rey's the owner of this place and she says she wants you, so I think it can't," Ello said, turning back to Rey. "Rey, meet Suralinda. Suralinda, meet Rey. My bit is done, so I'm going back to work."

"Thanks, Ello," Rey called out as Ello walked away, her eyes trained on the woman standing in front of her. "Hi, Suralinda. Nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well," Suralinda said. "You must be Jaxon's niece."

"That I am," Rey said, looking around. "Let's go into the office. I don't want to do this in the middle of the club."

Suralinda gave her a concerned look. "You're not firing me, are you?"

"I certainly hope not," Rey said seriously. "Office?"

"This way," Suralinda said, ducking underneath the bar and heading across the room.

Rey followed her and after a few moments, they were in a small office behind the storeroom. Suralinda sat down behind the desk and Rey took a seat in the only other chair in the room, and then Suralinda was staring at her with anticipation, and Rey realized she actually had to do this.

"Jaxon didn't leave the most detailed of instructions, so I'm trying to figure out how this place is run," Rey said, trying not to sound suspicious of the woman in front of her. "So I was wondering if you could explain to me what happens when you close out for the night."

Suralinda loosened up instantly. "Oh, sure. We close at two, though there are usually some stragglers that don't get out of here until two-thirty or so because they're so drunk. Once all the patrons are gone, most of the crew goes home, except for Ello, who is the bar manager, and if it's a night where there's a cover charge, then Cat sticks around too, 'cause he's in charge of the door. It's their job to close out the registers, count the money, all that sort of stuff. Then they hand off to me and go home. I double-check their work, put it all in an envelope. Then when I'm leaving, which is usually around five, Jaxon's accountant stops by on his way to work and takes the envelope, and what he does with it from there, I don't know. I assume he puts it in the account, 'cause there's always money in there for all of the expenses that I have to pay out for new inventory and stuff."

"Jaxon's accountant?" Rey asked, staring at Suralinda.

"Yeah. Met him in the bowling alley about a year ago. Said he was looking for me and had new bank details for the business account and stuff. Why?"

"What's his name?"

"I don't know," Suralinda said, too quickly for that to have been the truth.

"Suralinda, do you like your job?"

"I love my job."

"Then quit lying to me."

Suralinda looked down at the desk for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Alright, so maybe DJ comes here and maybe we have sex in this office before he has to go to work and maybe I'd like to keep that quiet because if Ello knew about it then there would be all sorts of problems that I don't want to deal with."

"I don't care about Ello," Rey stressed. "I am somewhat disturbed by the thought of you having sex in this office. And his name is DJ, huh?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Just wondering," Rey said, standing up. "Thank you, Suralinda, you've been most helpful."

"You're welcome, boss," Suralinda said, standing up as well. "You should come to the club more often."

"I just might," Rey said, opening the door. "I'll see you later."

"Goodnight, boss."

Rey walked out of the office and through the club until she was at the door letting her into the bowling alley, smiling when she heard Luke's voice cheering the strike Mara had just thrown. "Having fun in here?"

"I'm kicking Ben's ass!" Mara exclaimed.

"We'd let Ben deny it," Luke called out, "except for the fact that she really is. Mara is a natural."

"Yeah, yeah, quit bragging about how she's on your team and bowl, asshole," Leia said, shoving Luke in the shoulder. 

"Whatever ever you say, Princess Leia," Luke said sarcastically, heading off to bowl.

"Princess Leia?" Rey asked, amused.

"Shut up," Leia replied, her cheeks lightly blushing in embarrassment.

Rey stepped down into the seating area around the lane where they were bowling and wrapped her arms around Ben, burying her head in his neck. "Something's going on and I need to stick around until about five to make sure my suspicions are correct."

"Five a.m.?" Ben asked softly. "Why so late?"

"Because I need to know what I'm thinking is the correct thing before I do something about it," Rey said, letting go of Ben and collapsing into the chair next to Padmé.

"Everything alright, Rey?" Padmé asked, smiling at her.

"Fine," Rey said dismissively. "Everything's going to be fine. So, what game is this and who is winning?"

Padmé stood up and moved to a chair in front of the controls, looking at a piece of paper that they had been writing the scores on before beginning to talk. But Rey didn't hear any of it, too lost in her thoughts and in the fact that Ben had just sat down next to her.

"You want me to stay with you?" Ben whispered, pressing a soft kiss behind Rey's ear.

"No," Rey whispered back. "You've got to go to L.A. tomorrow for recording. I don't want you sleep deprived because of this."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Rey said, turning to kiss him softly. "Thanks though."

"Anytime."


	12. Chapter 12

"Rey?"

Rey turned around and grabbed Phasma by the hand, pulling her to the ground. "Phasma. Shh."

"What are you doing?" Phasma whispered, looking around the edge of the planter Rey was hiding behind.

"Trying to catch someone in the act of something," Rey whispered back, looking over at her and being slightly taken aback by Phasma's attire. "What are you wearing?"

"Traditional German folk costume," Phasma said softly. "Armitage likes it."

"Oh, I see," Rey said, turning her attention back to the spot in front of the nightclub that she was concentrating on. "How is Armitage?"

"Good," Phasma whispered. "He paid me extra tonight so we can keep my sister in the rehab center for another week. We don't have a mystery angel like before."

"You don't need to worry about that."

"I have to worry about that, Rey," Phasma said. "She needs that help."

Rey sat there for a moment before sighing heavily. "The bill for her treatment is taken care of."

"Excuse me?"

"I am paying for her treatment, just like I did last time," Rey said softly. "Let me help you."

"Rey, I..." Phasma cut herself off when a car pulled into the parking lot, coming to a stop in front of the nightclub. "That's Armitage's lawyer's car."

Rey looked over at her. "You sure?"

"Yes, I saw him earlier. DJ. This is not a name you just forget in Armitage's presence, so I try to remember details."

Rey nodded and watched as the car shut off, and the driver's door opened and DJ stepped out, dressed as always in an impeccable suit. "That son of a bitch."

"DJ!" came Suralinda's voice, and then she was walking out of the door and straight into DJ's arms.

After a long kiss, DJ broke away. "You got the money for me, baby?"

"Right here," Suralinda said, handing over an envelope. "You have time for a little more than that this morning?"

"Unfortunately no," DJ said, kissing her again. "But tomorrow I will, I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"Of course." DJ kissed her one more time. "I'll see you tomorrow, baby."

"Don't work too hard!" Suralinda called out, then turned back to the nightclub and locked the doors. She walked into the parking lot as DJ pulled away from the building, and then Suralinda was getting into her own car and leaving, and Rey wanted to smash something.

"That lousy motherfucking son of a bitch," Rey said, standing up and kicking the planter in front of her as hard as she could. "Ow! Fuck! Son of a fucking bitch!"

Phasma just shook her head and stood up, wrapping an arm around Rey's waist to stop her from losing her balance as she jumped around trying not to put pressure on her foot. "I think it's not a good idea to kick concrete planters, Rey."

"I think you're right about that, Phasma," Rey said, tentatively touching her foot on and off the ground until she felt like she could stand on it. "Thank you."

"You're alright? No need for a hospital?"

"I'm fine," Rey said, taking a deep breath and leaning up against the building. "I want to talk to Armitage."

"About me? No, please, don't."

"No, not about you," Rey assured. "I want to talk to him about that son of a bitch DJ and how he's convinced my nightclub manager that he's Jaxon's accountant. He just left with all of the money the club made tonight."

Phasma's eyes opened wide and she messed around with her bag until she found her phone inside it. "I will text him now. But he is a very busy man and might not want to listen to you."

"Make him," Rey said simply.

Phasma stared at her for a moment then gave her a look. "I understand. I will do that."

Rey gave her a confused look but Phasma was busy typing out the text message, so she thought nothing of it. "How is your sister doing?"

"She is a complete mess," Phasma said, finishing the message and pressing send. "Rey, I don't know how I could ever repay you for what you're doing. And I don't understand why you want to do this for someone you've never met."

"Because I understand the importance of family," Rey said softly. "And I want your sister to get better, for her and for you."

"Rey, I..." Phasma cut herself off when her phone began to ring loudly. "Armitage. Excuse me."

Phasma launched into a quick conversation over the phone, and Rey stood there, still flexing her foot, as Phasma paced back and forth in front of her. Several minutes later, Phasma hung up the phone and turned to Rey.

"He said you can come over with me, but don't be surprised if it takes him a while to actually speak to you. I had to promise him something to get him to let you come over."

"Promise him what?"

Phasma ducked her head down. "That I would wear this outfit that he bought me."

Rey shook her head briefly before holding up her hands. "I told you once already, I'm not going to judge you, Phasma."

"Thank you," Phasma said softly, sighing. "I have to go get it. Can you drive us there or do we have to take the bus?"

"I can drive us if you give me directions."

"Then I will get ready and meet you back here in a few minutes," Phasma said, turning and walking towards the laundromat.

*****

“Your lawyer has been stealing from me," Rey stressed again, groaning in frustration when Armitage just leaned back in his chair and sighed. "If he's stealing from me, I'd almost bet he's stealing from you."

"Of course he is stealing from me," Armitage said dismissively. "I have known this for months. But I don't know how to prove it as fact."

Armitage held up his empty glass and shook it until he got Phasma's attention. Phasma hurried across the room and took the empty glass, pausing by Rey's chair. "Rey, would you like a refill too?"

Rey looked at the glass of vodka in her hand that she had yet to touch. "I'm good, thanks."

"Thank you, Phasma," Armitage drawled, and Phasma went hurrying across the room to refill his glass. "She looks delightful in that outfit, doesn't she?"

Rey glanced over at the French maid's outfit Phasma was wearing and just nodded. "Can we get back to talking about DJ please?"

"Look, Rey, Phasma tells me that you are a smart woman. But you are also a woman standing in my way when it comes to the skyscraper my father wants me to build." Armitage paused as Phasma hurried back across the room and handed him his glass. "Thank you, dear. Now go dust the bookshelves."

"Of course." Phasma rushed over to the bookshelves and Armitage smiled.

"Perfect." He sipped at the vodka as though it were water. "I would be open to some sort of deal, Rey."

"I'm not selling you my business."

"I figured as much. That wasn't quite what I was referring to." Armitage took another sip of his vodka and sighed. "Love? Move to the bedroom down the hall until I come to get you."

Phasma nodded as she rushed out of the room. "I'll be waiting."

"To be perfectly honest with you, I think there is only one viable solution," Armitage said. "We bring DJ in here and tell him we know everything. We'll surprise him with your presence, of course, but once he sees us both here, he'll have to confess."

"Do you actually know your lawyer very well?" Rey asked, taking a tiny sip of the vodka when Armitage's eyes flicked between the full glass and Rey's face with a look of disdain. "Because from what I know of him, I think he'll run."

"Oh, he can try," Armitage said, a delightful gleam in his eyes. "But there's no way he'll get by security. I'll bring the police into it as well. I've been working with them for a while on this. I don't know about you, but I'd like to see the son of a bitch waste away in jail for a long time. But that is not the deal I was referring to."

"Then what is it?" Rey asked, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice.

"Phasma often tells me about her family's hardships. It is why I pay her for things that I wish I didn't," Armitage said softly. "It may be hard for you to believe, but I do love her. I want everyone to know that. But I am under great pressure from my father to prove to him that I can handle running the business when he dies, and ever since my mother's death he feels relationships are distractions and that love is worthless. He is very sick and very frail, and sometimes I think he's only clinging on to life until he hears that I've made some progress towards the skyscraper deal. So I'd like you to help me give him some progress."

Rey gave him a confused look. "I don't understand."

"I want you to sell me the building that Phasma's business is housed in."

Rey sat back in her chair and stared at Armitage for a moment. "You think that buying that building will give your father the progress he's seeking before he lets go of this world," she said as realization dawned on her.

"Precisely," Armitage said, standing up and walking towards the small bar to refill his glass. "It will give me a much better way of helping Phasma and her family, it will give me something to report to my father, and once he dies, it will give me the freedom to say that Phasma is someone I want to be with."

"So you don't really want to build a skyscraper on my block?"

"Oh, I would easily build a skyscraper on your block if I had no personal attachment to it," Armitage clarified. "But Phasma gives me a personal attachment to it. I can find another block to build skyscrapers on."

"So if I agree to this," Rey murmured, "you'll help me set up DJ."

"Yes," Armitage said, walking back to the desk and sitting down. "What do you think?"

Rey thought about it for a moment. "So long as you'll agree to an amendment in the contract saying you won't use the acquisition of the building to force the hands of the owners of the rest of the buildings on the block."

"Agreed." Armitage held out his hand to shake. "Deal?"

Rey took a deep breath, then reached out and took Armitage's hand. "Deal."

*****

Finn threw open the door to his office and stalked into the bowling alley, coming to a stop in front of the counter. "Rey, what in the fuck have you done?"

Jessika looked at Finn like he was crazy but didn't say anything, instead motioning to him that Rey was on the phone.

"I don't fucking care who she's talking to, get her out here!" Finn exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at Jessika until she got up and quietly let herself into Rey's office.

A few minutes later, Rey came striding out of the office, giving Finn a disapproving look. "Why are you yelling in the middle of my bowling alley?"

"I just got off the phone with Anakin. Why are you selling the building next door to Armitage Hux?" Finn yelled. "Rey, we've talked about this over and over and over. One of you caves and the rest of the block is in jeopardy."

"Armitage Hux is a perfectly reasonable and understanding man, though more than a bit quirky, I think. And we had a lengthy conversation earlier this morning on an unrelated topic, this came up, and once you know all the facts, Finn, I think you'll understand why I'm doing it," Rey said, walking past the counter and hooking her elbow with Finn's. "And if you'd like to come with me to your meeting room, I will gladly explain it to you."

Finn wrestled his arm away from her but started walking towards his office. "This is ridiculous, Rey. Absolutely ridiculous."

"No, this is good," Rey assured him. "Even Anakin thought so."

"Yes, and the two of you both think it's perfectly fine for an adult to do nothing but watch cartoons, so I highly doubt I should take either of your opinions into consideration here."

Rey shook her head as Finn opened the door to his office, following him inside and past Rose's desk. "Good afternoon, Rose."

"That will depend entirely on whether or not you can calm him down," Rose called out, wincing when Finn threw the meeting room door open so hard it bounced off the wall. "Please calm him down."

"Working on it," Rey said, following Finn into the meeting room and closing the door behind them. "I know that you're upset."

"Upset? Upset!" Finn exclaimed. "I'm a hell of a lot more than upset, Rey!"

Rey sighed and collapsed into one of the room's chairs. "Look, DJ is stealing from me." 

"WHAT?"

"When I had my meeting with Anakin, he asked me about the nightclub revenue, because it wasn't showing up in any of the accounts."

"Jess takes care of all of the deposits."

"For the bowling alley," Rey clarified. "Apparently when I had Jess run some papers over to his office, he asked her a few questions and she told Anakin she has nothing to do with the nightclub, and she's said the same to me since. Anakin asked me to investigate, I did, and I discovered that DJ has duped Suralinda into believing that they have some sort of a relationship, he is Jaxon's accountant, and that he shows up here every morning around five to pick up the night's profits to deposit into an account for the business. I have no idea how long it's been going on, but DJ is essentially running my nightclub."

"Suralinda would never be stupid enough to fall for that," Finn said firmly.

"You remember the first day I showed up here? You told me that if DJ thought fucking me would get me to agree to his deal, he'd do it without a second thought," Rey pointed out. "Suralinda saw a gorgeous man who told her he was her boss's accountant, who gave her different bank details to an account that always has the money she needs for the club in it, and who was interested in her. And she fell for it. Completely."

Finn watched her for a moment. "You're actually being serious."

"I stayed late last night, watched their interaction when DJ showed up and Suralinda was leaving. DJ took off with all the money the nightclub made last night. And I have a witness, 'cause Phasma was watching with me."

"Like Phasma is a credible witness."

"She is to a man that loves her," Rey said softly. "And Armitage Hux loves her."

"WHAT?"

Rey choked back a laugh at Finn's reaction. "While having a discussion with him to set up how to catch DJ in the act, which we're doing Friday by the way, we also discussed a number of other things. Such as how he'll find somewhere else to build his skyscraper and how he really wants to acknowledge Phasma's presence in his life but he can't do it until his father dies, etc," she said. "He asked about buying the building because he not only wants to make a grand gesture towards Phasma, but it'll show his father some progress, and he thinks that's all his father is hanging on to life for. I don't have a real need for the building and I can use the cash from selling it to Hux to pay for the improvements to the bowling alley. And once we get DJ arrested, he's going to waste away in jail for a long time, so I'm perfectly happy with this situation."

"Are you trying to tell me that Phasma – useless, hopeless, worthless Phasma – is sleeping with Armitage Hux?"

"You know, once upon a time, there were people in my life who thought that I was nothing more than useless and hopeless and worthless," Rey pointed out. "And you stood there and told me that they were wrong, that no one is ever useless and hopeless and worthless, no matter who says that about them."

"I'm in shock," Finn murmured. "Phasma is sleeping with Armitage Hux, the man whom DJ works for. Hux is helping you set up DJ, doesn't really want to build a skyscraper here but is only doing it because it's Daddy's dying wish, and isn't going to build a skyscraper here because of Phasma. Holy shit."

"Yeah, basically," Rey said, smiling. "Still mad at me?"

"No," Finn said, taking a deep breath. "This is unbelievable."

"So is everything that's happened in my life since you called me that night, so what's one more thing?"

"Everything?" Finn sighed. "Rey."

Rey reached out and wrapped Finn up in a hug. "I'm not saying it's a bad unbelievable. Just that it's unbelievable."

Finn squeezed her tighter. "I love you, Rey."

"I love you too, Finn."

Finn pulled back and took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. This is...everything's okay."

"Everything is fine," Rey said. 

"Then get out of here and let me get back to work."

"Yes, sir," Rey said dramatically, causing Finn to shove at her shoulder. 

"I mean it!"

Rey stood up and walked out of the meeting room, smiling at Rose as she walked past her desk. "Mission accomplished."

"Then good afternoon, Rey!"


	13. Chapter 13

DJ walked into Armitage's office and immediately froze. "What's going on?"

"Ah, DJ," Armitage said, waving him into the room. "Please come join us."

DJ looked from Armitage to Rey and back again. "Rey. This is a surprise."

"Really?" Rey asked. "'Cause I'd think it shouldn't be. You had to know I'd figure it out eventually."

"Figure what out? I don't know what you're talking about."

Rey had to hand it to him. DJ was going to go down lying. "I'd been neglecting the nightclub portion of my business since I inherited it," she said, leaning up against Armitage's desk. "And then I had a very interesting conversation with Suralinda. You know who Suralinda Javos is, right?"

"Suralinda? I've never met a woman named Suralinda Javos in my life."

Rey looked over at Phasma. Phasma pressed a button on the remote and then the large television in Armitage's office came to life, the security camera footage of DJ's interactions with Suralinda the other night playing on it. "The name Suralinda Javos familiar now?"

DJ took an audible gulp. "There are security cameras around your place?"

"Of course," Rey said simply. "My uncle may have been old, but he was no fool."

"So you have me on tape. So what? You cannot prove anything."

"Oh, but I can," Rey said, thinking to herself that she was enjoying this too much. "See, once Armitage explained to Suralinda what it was that was going on, Suralinda was extremely cooperative. Apparently, it's not a good idea to scorn her."

"The police are involved," Armitage said smugly. "Your girlfriend was very forthcoming about your confessions of embezzlement towards your primary client. And what do you know? What she said exactly matches the holes in my account books that I've been trying to figure out for ages."

DJ turned around to run only to find the door blocked by two of Armitage's large security guards. "Get the fuck out of my way."

"Oh, I don't think so," Armitage said. "The only way you're leaving here is in the back of a police car, DJ. Let them know we're ready."

Another of Armitage's employees pulled a phone from their suit coat and dialed the police while DJ stood there with his jaw dropped. 

"Mr. Hux, you know this has to be wrong," he tried. "I have been nothing but your loyal servant."

"I think you're only loyal to yourself," Armitage said, nodding when one of his men announced they were on their way. "You are certainly not loyal to me."

"But Mr. Hux..."

"Don't even try!" Armitage shouted, throwing his glass of vodka against the closest wall. "I put you in charge of a simple task, which you failed miserably at, and the way you repay me is not only to embezzle from me but to rob from her as well! That is not the man of integrity I thought that I had hired. That is not behavior that Hux International can condone! We pride ourselves on doing things the proper way, DJ! Now I hear tales of you threatening the owners of the businesses along that block. Threatening! Don't even get me started on how inappropriate and wrong you are!"

"Give it up," Phasma said loudly. "You've been caught."

DJ's face turned into a sneer as he turned to face Phasma. "And what do you know about anything, you worthless piece of shit? Do you know how pathetic you and your family are? I hated walking into that building every time I had to because it meant I had to deal with the stink of all of you. You have no idea how utterly useless all of you are. You could die now and the world wouldn't miss you." 

Before Rey realized what was happening, Armitage was across the room and punching DJ in the face with a strong right hook. "Don't you ever, EVER, talk to her that way again," he growled out. "EVER."

A knock at the door came a few moments later, and the guards opened it up to reveal a couple of uniformed police officers and a man in a suit. 

"Detective Snoke." 

"Mr. Hux," Snoke said as they walked into the room. "Where's the suspect?"

"Here," Armitage said, shoving DJ towards them. "Get him out of my sight."

"My pleasure," Snoke said, watching as the two uniformed officers pinned DJ up against the wall and began to cuff him and read him his rights. "I'm glad we were finally able to nail him, Mr. Hux. We've been working on this for such a long time."

"Yes, we have," Armitage said, holding out his hand and shaking his. "Thank you for everything, Snoke."

"Not a problem. We'll be in touch."

Rey looked between Snoke and Armitage as the officers hustled DJ out of the room. "You've had the police involved for a very long time?"

"I told you, I knew he was stealing from me, I just had no proof. Your nightclub manager gave me my proof." Armitage walked over to Phasma and reached out to caress her face. "Don't listen to a word he said, love. You are everything to me."

"Really?" Phasma asked in a small voice, unable to look up at Armitage.

"Really," Armitage replied, tilting Phasma's head up and bringing their lips together in a gentle kiss. "Go get ready for me, hm?"

Phasma nodded and scrambled out of the room as Armitage turned towards Rey. "You are a good friend to Phasma. You are also now a good friend to me. And it is in good faith and friendship that we will continue our deal for your building but at a later time."

Rey understood what Armitage was saying without him saying it. "Call me when you are ready. My lawyer and I will be happy to meet with you at any time."

"Sounds wonderful," Armitage said, stepping forward to shake Rey's hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, Phasma is waiting for me."

"Of course," Rey said, smiling. "Someone is waiting for me too."

*****

Rey moved the chair on the front porch so that she could prop her feet up on the railing, then sat down and did just that. She reached towards the small table next to her and grabbed her beer, twisting the cap off and bringing it to her lips for a long sip. She'd meant to sit there and enjoy the evening for weeks, and now that she finally had time, she was going to enjoy it.

She sat there for what felt like hours, just enjoying the sounds of the city and her surroundings, until Ben's car pulled into the driveway. She smiled as Ben got out of the car and shifted to pull the other chair up next to hers, and then Ben was walking up the sidewalk and sitting down in the chair and everything felt so right to Rey that she wondered how she'd ever lived without it.

"So I got another phone call from the producer on my way over here," Ben said softly.

"And?" Rey said, her gaze drifting back to where Ben's car was parked in the driveway. Something about the sight of it bothered her, but she wasn't entirely sure why.

"And the network listened to the initial pitch from the producer, loved it, and ordered a pilot without me even having to go to Los Angeles for a meeting," Ben said, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. "Do you have any idea how fucking rare that is? Now I've got to start working on scripts and meeting with animators and coming up with a name for the show."

"That's fantastic!" Rey exclaimed, leaning over to kiss Ben soundly. "I'm so proud of you!"

"I kind of can't believe it," Ben stated, pulling Rey into another kiss. "I mean, I always thought that maybe it would happen someday, but I never really believed in that thought, if that makes any sense."

"It makes sense to me," Rey said, smiling. "Your own television show. That's really incredible."

"I know," Ben said, leaning back in this chair and propping his feet up next to Rey's. "It's like everything in my life is coming into place."

And then it clicked in Rey's head what was wrong with the car parked in the driveway. "Why don't you park your car in the garage?"

"Because there's no room. You've got that other old car of Jaxon's in there."

"If I got rid of it, would you park in the garage?"

Ben gave her a confused look. "If that's what you want me to do, sure."

Rey turned her head towards him. "And if I made room in the dresser drawers and the closet, would you put your clothes there?"

The confused look on Ben's face turned into a smile. "Yes."

"What if I made room on some shelves for all your books and DVDs? Would you put those there?"

"Yes."

"A shelf in the kitchen cabinet for all of that scotch you keep above your refrigerator?"

"Yes."

"A permanent place for your toothbrush?"

"Yes."

"And if I asked you to wake up beside me every morning, would you do that?"

Ben reached out and kissed Rey firmly. "Every morning for the rest of my life."

"Then I don't understand why you still have an apartment."

"Neither do I," Ben mumbled against Rey's lips, catching them in another kiss. "You really want me to move in?"

"You practically already live here. I think it's time to make things official."

"Then I'll move in."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Rey reached out and caressed Ben's face lightly. "Forever Plans."

"Forever plans," Ben murmured.

"No, you don't get it," Rey said. " _Forever Plans_."

"I am confused. What?" Ben asked. 

Rey smiled as she sat back in her chair. "That's what you should name the show. _Forever Plans_."

Ben grabbed Rey's hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. "Hm, I like it. I'll consider it."

"Excellent."

They sat there in silence, just enjoying the calm around them until Leia's car pulled into the driveway. Luke and Mara got out of the back seat and Leia and Padmé climbed out of the front, and then there was noise. Luke and Mara arguing about the best line to take on lane six, Padmé talking about what happened that day at work, and Leia squealing because she was looking at Ben.

Rey looked over at Ben with a wistful smile. "Well, that was nice while it lasted."

"Yup," Ben said, frowning at Leia as she shoved his feet off the railing as she passed by.

"Get up and get inside! It's freezing out here! Besides, it's time for dinner, and you know if you don't get in there, Luke will scarf down everything in sight."

"Coming, Mother," Ben said teasingly, prompting Leia to give him a death glare.

"Don't you even, Benjamin. Don't you even."

Ben laughed and Leia smiled as Rey sat up and reached for her beer. She took a long sip before standing and then nudged Ben with her leg. 

"Come on, let's go. They've got food and I'm hungry."

"Alright, alright," Ben said, taking a deep breath. "I have to face them all in a setting like this at some point don't I?"

"It'll be fine," Rey murmured. "Trust me."

"I trust you," Ben said standing up and reaching for Rey's hand. "Alright, let's go."

*****

Rey walked into the house to find the living room completely rearranged from how it had been when she left the house that morning, Ben staring at the wall behind the television intently. “Um, hello?”

“Do you remember how you told me that you wanted to fix this place up?” Ben asked without turning to look at her. “I came in here earlier and realized how this mix of Jaxon's furniture and mine combined with the rest of the décor looks atrocious. So I tried to rearrange things and make it look better, but I don't think I succeeded. So I think the next thing to do is to tear this wallpaper down.”

Rey laughed and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around Ben's waist and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “I've been meaning to fix this place up so that it doesn't look like the seventies exploded in here since I moved in, but I've never gotten around to it. So we should figure out how we want it to look and then hire someone to do it.”

Ben glanced behind his shoulder at her. “Hire someone to do it?”

“Yes,” Rey said firmly. “Snap and Poe might be all into the do-it-yourself stuff but there is no way on earth I'm painting another fucking room in my life.”

Ben turned around in her arms and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Another room?”

“One of the odd jobs I did to earn some money was work as a painter for this construction company,” Rey said, shaking her head. “I absolutely refuse to have anything to do with paint ever again.”

Ben laughed. “So if I said I wanted to experiment with body paint?”

“Absolutely not,” Rey said firmly, shaking her head. “I draw the line there.”

Ben leaned in and kissed her soundly. “I will keep that in mind then. How did things go?”

“The prosecutor said that I'll get every penny that DJ stole from me back in some fashion,” Rey said, unable to keep the smile from her face. “So things went really well.”

“Good,” Ben said, kissing her again. “I have some good news of my own.”

“And what is that?”

“The producer called and said that if the network passes on the pilot, which he is certain they won't but if they were to, he wants to shop it around to other networks. He's that happy with the way things are going.”

“That's wonderful,” Rey said, smiling at him. “I am so proud of you for doing this. I get the feeling that you wouldn't have ever brought this up before you met me.”

“I needed the right thing to happen to show me that there was a story beyond Emma,” Ben said sincerely. “And then you came along and made me realize that Emma wasn't the story at all, you were.”

“Really?”

“She doesn't matter anymore,” Ben said quietly. “The only thing that matters is you. So while I would really love to skip through the first two and a half seasons of the show and just get to the part where you come in, I am going to hold true to my original plot. But the show will get really a whole lot more fun when I can just start writing about you.”

Rey melted into Ben's embrace and rested her head on his shoulder. “This is going to sound absolutely insane, but that might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Ben laughed. “Then I will also tell you that I have taken the advice of my beautiful fiancée and decided to name the show _Forever Plans_.”

Rey grinned into his shoulder. “Fiancée?”

“Yeah,” Ben murmured. “You know if you want to be called that. If not, then I won't.”

Rey sat up and pulled Ben into a deep kiss. “I'm good with fiancée.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Ben pulled her into another deep kiss and grinned. “We should go celebrate this development.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “Ben, it's six o'clock.”

“Like that's ever stopped us before,” Ben laughed. “But I was thinking a nice dinner out.”

“Dinner sounds nice,” Rey said, smiling. 

“And then,” Ben said, pausing for a moment. “Then maybe a trip to a jewelry store.”

“A jewelry store?”

“Unless you don't want a ring,” Ben said quickly. “Because if you don't want a ring, then that's fine.”

Rey laughed at Ben's rambling and brought their lips together. “A ring sounds nice too. I just didn't know if we were doing that.”

“I want to,” Ben said softly. “I really want to.”

“Then I cannot wait to pick out a ring. That is going to let everyone know about the forever plans part of this, you know. Only your mother knows about that so far.”

“That's okay,” Ben said, kissing her softly. “I'm ready for the world to know I'm the lucky one that gets to have you for the rest of my life.”

“Then it's a good thing I'm ready for that too, isn't it?” Rey grinned. “Alright, let's go get ready for dinner and our shopping trip before someone comes over here and tries to rope us into doing something with them tonight.”

“Which means Finn is coming over.”

“Which means Finn is likely coming over. He'll want to know how things went with the prosecutor.”

“Then let's hurry and get out of here.”


	14. Chapter 14

Rey was watching the night's league bowlers from behind the counter when Ben walked up next to her and dropped a couple of bags of food onto the counter. "Mmm, hello."

"Hello," Ben said. "Sorry about I'm late but Han called me right as I was getting here and when he calls I pretty much stop everything and talk to him. He's so hard to get a hold of."

"It's alright," Rey said, pulling Ben down onto the stool that was next to hers and reaching for one of the bags. "How is he?"

"He's excited," Ben said, reaching for the other. "I'm excited. I never thought I'd be saying that about lunch with my father but it's the truth. We are both going into this looking forward to seeing each other. It's rather insane, to be honest."

Rey unwrapped the burger that had been in her bag. "I think this is yours. But it's a good kind of insane right?"

Ben exchanged burgers with her. "Definitely. It's nice that we're on speaking terms again."

Rey smiled at him. "I can't wait to meet Han. Whenever you're ready for that to happen, I'm ready for that to happen."

"Han can't wait to meet you," Ben said softly. "He said that he and Qi'ra really want to meet their daughter-in-law. I told him I wasn't sure we were quite ready for that."

"I'm ready for it whenever you are," Rey said, reaching out to link her fingers with Ben's. "Forever plans, remember?"

"Forever plans," Ben echoed, squeezing Rey's fingers. "I can't wait for you to start wearing that ring."

Rey smiled. "I'd be wearing it right now if it hadn't needed to be sized."

Ben smiled at her and leaned in for a kiss. "This is amazing, you know that? I never really thought I'd ever find this."

"I never thought I'd find this either," Rey murmured, turning her head towards the counter when she heard someone cough. "Yes, Jess?"

"You guys should take your food down to lane seven," Jessika said. "And then just watch in silence."

"What?" Rey started, but Ben quickly cut her off. 

"Who is on lane seven?"

"Anakin."

"Thank you, Jess," Ben said, reaching for the bag in front of him and standing up. "Come on, Rey."

"Why are we going down there?" Rey asked. "Especially to watch in silence."

"Don't make me say it," Jessika said, fear in her voice. "We can't talk about it."

Rey fixed a glare on Ben and he sighed. "My grandfather has a potential three hundred going. Jess won't talk about ones in progress because she thinks that it'll make them come to an end."

"It's true!" Jessika exclaimed. "It always happens and since you're the one who said it, I'm telling Anakin it was you when it happens."

"What is a three hundred and why should I care?" Rey asked, standing up regardless.

"A perfect game," Ben said. "All strikes."

Rey's eyes widened. "A perfect game?"

"Yes," Ben said, grabbing the food and walking around the counter. "Now come on. Jess, what frame is he on?"

"Eighth," Jessika said, following behind Ben and Rey. "And I am so telling him that this is your fault."

"He might do it, Jess. He's come close before."

Rey looked up when they approached lane seven, seeing the screen displaying that Anakin was now on the ninth frame and he was still maintaining his perfect game. "I didn't know you could do this in bowling. Baseball, but not bowling."

"It's extremely rare," Ben said, dropping the food onto the table and sitting down. "Don't say anything to him. He needs to concentrate."

Rey nodded and sat down next to him, reaching for her food and watching as Old Ben stepped up to the line. "Ben?" she whispered. "What do I do if he gets it?"

"Meaning?" Ben whispered back.

"Well, shouldn't there be some sort of mark of achievement or something?"

"You're probably right about that, but I have no idea what Jaxon used to do when something like this happens. I don't even know if it's ever happened here before."

Rey glanced up at the sound of the pins to see that someone from whoever the pharmacy's team was bowling was up. "I'll do some research, but if he does this and he's the first, then I'm doing something to mark this. Hell, I'm doing something even if he isn't."

Ben nodded and turned his attention back to the bowling, so Rey did the same. They sat through five more bowlers before it was Anakin's turn again, and as he stepped up to the line, Rey's breath caught in her throat. Ben's hand reached out for hers and squeezed it tightly, and Rey glanced over to see the tension on his face. 

Anakin, however, looked like there was absolutely no tension in his body whatsoever. He stretched out his arm a little, grabbed his ball, took a moment to center himself, made sure he was on his marks, stepped up to the line, and threw the ball. A few seconds later, it hit the pins, and when Anakin jumped a little and let out a cheer, Rey felt her entire body relax as she got visual evidence of the fact that all the pins were down. Another strike for Anakin.

Ben breathed a visible sigh of relief next to her, and Rey reached over and pulled him into a soft kiss. Ben smiled at her when she pulled back, setting his burger down and pulling her into a deeper kiss. "Thank you," he whispered.

"For what?"

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have them back," Ben said softly. "I wouldn't be here for this. So thank you."

"It's not because of me, Ben."

"I wouldn't have been here that night if it wasn't for you," Ben said seriously. "None of this would be happening if it wasn't for you. My family, the show, everything. I'd still be a lonely, miserable, slightly talented voice actor who wanted nothing to do with the world. You've changed everything for me."

"You changed everything for me too," Rey said quietly. "I would be a lonely, miserable, unmotivated woman who didn't want to do anything but lay in bed all day and sleep. I wouldn't be this involved in the business or invested in my friends if it wasn't for you showing me what the world could be. So thank you."

"No, thank you."

"No, thank you."

"How about you both agree to thank each other and shut the fuck up," Jessika said, crouching down behind their chairs. "And I am so blaming him fucking this up on both of you now."

"He's not going to fuck this up," Ben said seriously. "Look at him, Jess. He looks like it's the first frame. He's not letting this get to him at all. He's going to do it."

"We'll see, we'll see," Jessika muttered, taking a deep breath. "If he does this, he'll be this alley's first perfect game."

"First? For sure?"

"I just went back in the records and checked. Unless there was one that didn't get recorded, the highest score ever gotten at Resistance Lanes before this was a two-ninety-six. And that was in 1984. Windu has come close to breaking that a few times, but he's never gotten this close to a three hundred."

They sat there silently until it was Anakin's turn to bowl, and Ben put his burger down again. "I can't eat."

"Just wait until it's over," Rey said, reaching out and taking his hand. "Then you can eat."

"We'll see about that," Ben murmured. "I'm going to be gutted for him if he misses this."

"He won't," Rey said, turning her attention to the lane.

Just as he had in the ninth frame, Anakin grabbed his ball, did his pre-throw routine, tossed it down the lane, and got a strike. Rey took a couple of deep breaths as everyone waited for the ball to be returned to him, and then Anakin did the exact same routine, tossed it down the lane, and got a strike.

As they waited for the ball to be returned again, Ben squeezed Rey's hand so hard that she thought he might have broken it. "Ben, I can't feel my fingers."

"Sorry," Ben mumbled, releasing her hand only slightly.

Rey leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "He's going to do it."

"Uh-huh," Ben said, his eyes fixed on where Anakin was retrieving his ball. "This is it. Last throw for everything."

Rey noticed how the bowling on all the surrounding lanes had stopped and everyone was watching as Anakin went through his pre-throw routine one last time. Rey sucked in a breath as he stepped up to the line and then it felt like everything went in slow motion as Anakin tossed the ball and it rolled down the lane. She heard the sound of it crashing into the pins and waited for the reaction from Anakin, but one didn't come.

Instead, everyone around Anakin started cheering and celebrating, calling out congratulations and giving each other hugs. Rey glanced up at the monitor that showed off the scores and looked at Anakin's score and smiled.

A perfect three hundred.

Anakin was still just standing there, looking down at the downed pins. Ben squeezed Rey's hand quickly before standing up and walking down into the seating area, making his way around the rest of the bowlers and then up onto the actual surface of the lanes, approaching his grandfather. Rey watched as Ben put a hand on Anakin's shoulder, making Anakin look at him. And when Anakin noticed that it was Ben, his whole face lit up, making Rey smile. Anakin pulled Ben into a hug and then they both started jumping up and down, so Rey quickly grabbed her phone and began to video them.

She motioned to Jessika to take a picture of the screen that showed the scores and Jessika nodded, jogging back to the counter to grab her phone. Rey kept hers focused on Anakin and Ben as they stopped jumping and started talking to one another. There was too much noise to capture what was being said, but it was obvious that this was a special moment between grandfather and grandson. She'd have to send the video to Leia as soon as she was done filming them.

Jessika came back and started to take pictures, and when Rey decided to end the video, she turned to her and smiled. "So, what do you think we should do for Anakin?"

"I have an idea about that, actually," Jessika said. "But I don't want to tell you about it here."

"My office after the league is over then?"

"Sounds good to me."

*****

Ben slung an arm around the back of Rey's chair as they listened to Anakin tell the tale of his perfect game to the gathered Skywalker family. Padmé looked so proud and Leia did as well. Luke and Mara were in awe of the fact that he'd done it and were peppering him with questions about what lines he'd taken in what frames, and if he thought the oil patterns that day made for the perfect conditions on that lane, and on and on and on. It was a happy family occasion, one that had been marked with a home-cooked dinner by Padmé, and Rey felt incredibly blessed to be a part of it.

When Anakin's story was finished and there was a break in the conversation, Rey picked up her fork and clinked it against her glass. "I have something I would like to announce."

Everyone turned their attention to her and Ben brushed a kiss along her hair before Rey began to speak. "I am not sure that anyone at this table is aware of this, but Anakin's perfect game is the first perfect game in the history of Resistance Lanes."

"It is?" Anakin asked, surprised. "Are you sure about that?"

Rey nodded. "Cally kept records every month. Always recorded the highest score that had occurred in that particular month and what lane it was on. Jaxon continued that once she died. Jess and I have gone through every record for every month that has passed since the bowling alley was opened and before your perfect game the highest score anyone had been able to get was a two-ninety-six."

"That's amazing, Ani," Padmé said, smiling. "You made history at the bowling alley."

"Yes, well, he's also made a little more history," Rey said. "Anakin, you are the first recipient of the Resistance Award. The Resistance Award is something that we're going to hand out every once and a while when someone hits a big milestone such as a perfect game. You're going to be getting a plaque with your name engraved on it and an identical plaque will be going up on the wall behind lane one. The goal is to hand these out when something big or important happens and then decorate that wall with tributes to the bowlers who make the alley what it really is."

Anakin stared at Rey for a moment before smiling at her. "That is an incredible honor, Rey."

"I can think of no better person or achievement to receive this honor first," Rey said, leaning into Ben's embrace. "The fact that you're my grandfather-in-law only makes it better."

"Grandfather-in-law?"

"Did I say grandfather-in-law? Because I didn't mean to say that, did I, Ben?"

Ben laughed. "We were going to wait until we got the ring back from the jeweler first, but I suppose now is as good of a time as any."

"Ring?" Mara gasped. "There's a ring?"

Ben reached for Rey's hand and they both grinned. "Rey and I have decided on the forever plans," he said, squeezing her hand. "And we couldn't be happier about it."

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Padmé exclaimed. "A granddaughter, Ani! We're going to have a granddaughter!"

Leia immediately got up and walked around the table, and Ben stood up to meet her. She wrapped him into an embrace and buried her face in Ben's neck, taking a couple of deep breaths before she pulled back. "I never thought I'd get to have a daughter-in-law. I never thought I'd get to see my son again. I thought all of this was lost to me. So the fact that you're here and this is happening is the best thing ever."

"I never thought I'd get to share something like this with all of you, so this is pretty close to the best thing ever too," Ben said, smiling as Rey stood up. 

Leia let go of Ben and moved over to Rey, giving her a huge hug. "Oh, Rey, I'll be forever grateful that you came into Ben's life. I'm not sure any of this would have happened without you."

"I'm not so sure about that," Rey said, smiling at Leia. "I firmly believe that you all would have found your way back to each other somehow."

"Maybe, maybe not," Anakin said, standing up and walking over to them. "But because of you, we'll never know in the best of ways."

Anakin hugged Ben and soon everyone had gathered on their side of the table, giving Ben and Rey hugs and offering up congratulations. When everyone finally made their way back to their chairs, Ben gave Rey a soft kiss before they sat back down. "I love you," Ben whispered, and that brought a brilliant smile to Rey's face.

"I love you too," she whispered back.

*****

The clock on the bedside table read five past midnight when Rey opened her eyes, and she sighed heavily and reached for Ben, frowning when she found nothing but an empty bed. She blinked several times before throwing back the covers and climbing from the bed, stumbling around in the dark until she found some clothes to put on.

After dressing, she opened the bedroom door and walked into the hallway, frowning when she still didn't see or hear Ben. She slowly padded her way down the hallway and then down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen when she realized the light was on. 

"Okay, so tell me more about her." 

Ben's voice echoed out of the kitchen, followed by an extremely childish giggle which she quickly realized was from Poe, and Rey found herself standing just outside the room and listening in.

"She was gorgeous, Ben. Beautiful blonde hair, green eyes, breasts I would happily suffocate in. And for some reason, she was interested in me. Me! Girls like that aren't interested in scientists, let me tell you. Girls like that are interested in football players. But then she tells me that she's a student at the university, and she's studying microbiology, and she's super interested in my research. You want to talk about something that can make your head spin."

"So she's gorgeous and smart? You lucky bastard."

"Well, I've always said that I couldn't be with someone whose intelligence quotient was significantly lower than mine, but hers is clearly not because we spent the next few hours discussing my research and where she is in classes over coffee."

"That's clearly not all you did because you, Poe, are drunk."

"We went back to her apartment," Poe giggled. "She had wine and vodka. We had sex three times. I think I'm in love."

"I think you're just drunk," Ben said. "And I think you probably need to eat something if you mixed wine and vodka. What do you want? I'll make it for you."

"Oooh, oooh, scrambled eggs!" Poe exclaimed, giggling again. "Can I have scrambled eggs?"

"You are lucky because scrambled eggs happen to be one of my specialties." 

"Thanks, Ben."

"So are you going to see this girl again?"

"Of course! I am far from an imbecile you know. My IQ is higher than Einstein's."

"Einstein never took an IQ test, so that's impossible to know for sure."

The sound of cabinet doors opening and closing echoed out into the living room, and Rey decided it was a good time to make her presence known. She yawned as she walked into the kitchen, glancing from where Ben was opening the refrigerator to where Poe was sitting at the kitchen table. "What are you doing up this late?"

"Poe rang the doorbell, and he's a bit drunk and talkative," Ben said, turning to look at Rey. "I didn't want him to wake you, so I steered him in here, where he's been telling me about a girl."

"Drunk and talking about a girl? I would have never guessed that the two might be connected."

"Oh shut up, Rey!" Poe called out. "Just because when you get drunk you think of Ben doesn't mean all of us does!"

"All of us do," Rey corrected, walking over to sit down next to him. "Clearly you're drunk if you can't speak English properly."

"I can speak English just fine," Poe huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm just currently thinking about soft curves and warm, moist things."

Rey nudged Poe in the shoulder. "I think it's great you met a girl," she said, smiling. "But spare me the details, okay?"

Poe looked at her as though she'd just scandalized him. "I wouldn't tell you," he whispered, his voice growing in volume with every word he said. "You don't like girls. Ben does like girls but he's got a girl. So that means that the only person I can tell is Snap. And trust me, Snap will want to hear them. I need to find Snap!"

Poe jumped up and ran out of the room, and Rey laughed. "You think he's going home? He's so drunk we should probably watch him."

"He lives across the street. He can figure that out, surely," Ben said, cracking eggs into the pan and listening to them sizzle. "You think he still wants eggs?"

"Who knows? If he doesn't, we can eat them."

Ben started tending to the eggs and Rey sat there yawning, listening to the sounds of Poe wandering around in the living room. "Snap! I can't find Snap!"

"You going to go help him?"

Rey shook her head. "Nope."

"Why not?"

"It's keeping him occupied."

Ben laughed. "So why did you come down here?"

"Because I woke up and you were gone," Rey said, fighting off another yawn. "And quite frankly, that is my worst nightmare, so I went looking for you."

Ben moved the eggs around in the pan with the spatula before quietly asking a question. "That's your worst nightmare? Waking up and I'm gone?"

"Yes," Rey said seriously. "Or well, any form of losing you. Come on, don't you know that by now?"

Ben grabbed a plate and slid the eggs out of the pan onto it. "I do. It's just nice to be reminded of it sometimes."

Rey reached out and grabbed Ben's hand when he came over to the table, taking the plate of eggs from him and pulling him into the chair next to hers. "I know that we don't talk about how we feel as much as say Finn and Rose do, but any time you need to know something or want reassurance about something, just tell me, Ben. Tell me what you need and I'll give it to you."

Ben reached out and twisted the ring on Rey's finger. "It makes me feel like a girl."

"Hey, guys have feelings too. But it's perfectly fine if only you and I acknowledge that we have these feelings for each other during private moments like this."

Ben laughed. "Promise?"

"Promise."

They sat in a contented silence listening to the sounds of Poe searching through drawers in the living room until Snap came walking into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

"He called me, told me he was looking for me, so I came over here, and he sent me in here. What is wrong with him?"

"Listing everything would take too long," Rey said, laughing. "But at the moment, he's drunk and wanting to find you so he's currently searching the living room."

"Ah," Snap said, stretching. "Who are the eggs for?"

"They are for Poe if he ever stops being crazy and starts realizing he needs to eat if he doesn't want to be ridiculously hungover in the morning," Ben said, taking the plate and shoving it towards Snap. "But you can have them if you want. I'll make him new ones."

"Thanks, Ben," Snap said, sitting down at the table. "He met a girl, didn't he?"

"Yes," they said in unison.

"Good. He's needed a girlfriend for a while."

Ben laughed. "And this one is a microbiology student of all things."

Snap stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"That's great and all, but to deal with two of them? I'm not sure I have the patience for that." Rey and Ben laughed while Snap shook his head. "You're laughing but I'm serious." 

"Now all that's missing is you having a girl, Snap," Rey said softly. 

"Maybe someday," Snap said. "For now I'm just happy for everyone else."

Rey just started laughing, and the two of them looked at her. 

"What's so funny?" Ben asked.

"Nothing's funny. I just thought of something, and," Rey said, pausing. "Do you know how weird it is to think about the fact that someone dying is the best thing that ever happened to me? Before I had absolutely nothing, no friends except for Finn, a dead-end life. I was a complete and total loser. Now I have all of this, all of you. It's amazing. I'm the luckiest loser in the world."

Ben shook his head. "You're not a loser and Jaxon dying isn't the best thing that ever happened to you. Jaxon deciding you deserved to be given this incredible gift is the best thing that ever happened to you. He could have just as easily have chosen someone else."

Rey nodded. "True. Good point. Whatever it is, it really is the best thing that's ever happened to me, because it brought me peace with myself, it brought me security in my life for the first time as an adult, and it brought me all of you."

"All the makings of the best thing," Ben murmured. "Kind of like when I got the part of Kylo and suddenly had security and money and was living out my dream. Of course, all of that has only gotten better since knowing you. And I wouldn't know you if it wasn't for Jaxon."

"I wish I'd known him," Rey said softly. "I wish I had a chance to say thank you for all of this."

"Jaxon was awesome. But you'll have a chance someday," Snap replied. "I fully believe that."

"Yeah, I think I will," Rey said, turning her gaze towards the living room when Poe let out a yelp and then there was the sound of something tumbling to the floor. "Poe? You okay?"

"Fine!" Poe called back. "I just finally found Snap, but I had to get him out from underneath a stack of books and I thought it was going to fall on me! And then it started to tip so I just pushed at it and well, there are books everywhere and I'm stuck!"

Rey dropped her forehead down to Ben's shoulder. "You know, for as smart as he is, he's also really, really stupid."

Ben laughed and grabbed Rey's hand, pulling her up. "Come on. Let's go rescue Poe from the big, bad books."

Rey pulled Ben back to her after he'd begun to walk away, catching his lips in a searing kiss. "I was wrong a minute ago. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Ben grinned and pulled Rey into another kiss. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so that's that. thanks to everyone who read this and let me know that you liked it. or, even if you just lurked, thanks for reading anyway!


End file.
